


Handle With Care

by RogueWitch



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Darcy Lewis Needs a Hug, Darcy is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Darcyland, F/M, Kid Fic, SHIP DARCY WITH ALL THE THINGS, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:09:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 76,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7909453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueWitch/pseuds/RogueWitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy has a one night stand with a random Jack Booted Thug, never thinking she'd see him again.  Until the day she moves into Avenger Tower and see's him standing in the living room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, someone fed my plot bunny chocolate, cause they've fucked and reproduced, and this is the wonderful result.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 1: In the Beginning

He pushed her up against the faded brick wall, his hands pulling her legs snug around his waist and grinding into her. His lips were firm against hers, tasting of whiskey and smoke. Her fingers dug into his spikey blond hair, running down the back of his neck, dipping in to the collar of his soft black t-shirt.

“My place is just down the block,” Darcy panted into his mouth as he palmed one of her breasts thought the fabric of her shirt. “I think we should go there, like right now.”

They stumbled up the steps of her old metal motorhome, the screen door clapping shirt right on their heels, his shirt already hitting the floor as he pulled his lips from her neck to take care of hers. His fingers were rough against her over heated skin. Darcy backed her way down the short hall into the bedroom, letting him tip her down onto the mattress, tossing her bra over his shoulder in to the hallway. He worked his way down her body, pulling each nipple into his mouth in turn, sucking and pulling at the sensitive flesh, coaxing them into hard peaks. His hands skimmed down her body, quickly unbuttoning her jeans and dragging down the zipper as he sucked a hickey into the flesh over her left hip bone. He pulled her jeans and underwear down and off, her shoes long lost in the front room.

Darcy expected him to get off the floor and shuck his own jeans; instead he pulled her legs over his shoulders. “You really don’t have to,” she told him, fisting her hands into the unmade sheets of her bed as his breath ghosted over her wet skin.

“I’ve been thinking about having your legs wrapped around my neck since I watched you walk into the bar, darling,” he left an open mouthed kiss on the inside of her thigh, sucking hard so she knew she’d have a bruise to match the one on her hip. “Won’t do anything I don’t want.” His tongue was hot and wet as he ran it along the outside of her slit, before delving between her lips. He teased gently, not quite touching her where she wanted until she was writhing on the bed, sheets curled around her fists. He used the hard tip of his tongue to run over her clit, holding her down with one arm as the sensation brought her hips off the bed. He pushed one finger inside as he sucked her clit into his mouth, working the sensitive nub with the flat of his tongue, before slipping a second finger to join the first and gently crooking them forward.

“Holy Jesus fucker,” Darcy cried out, sure everyone in the neighborhood heard her, and really not caring. He kissed his way up her body as she came down, careful not to touch her over sensitive flesh until she was ready. He paused just shy of her mouth and she closed the small distance, tasting herself on his lips. Her fingers felt heavy and awkward as she tried to undo his jeans, wanting desperately to touch him.

“Baby,” he pushed her hands away and kissed her lips. “Why don’t you find us a condom and I’ll deal with these?”

“You don’t,” Darcy licked her lips as he pushed his jeans down his hips and he took his long thick cock in hand.

“We got all night for you to wrap those lips around me,” he winked, laying back against the pillows of her bed, his eyes never leaving her, while she rummaged in the bedside drawers for the box of condoms she knew she’d thrown in there when she first arrived in New Mexico. She held it up in triumph. “Come here,” he beckoned, licking his lips slowly as he watched her crawl across the bed to him.

Darcy rolled the condom down his length, her eyes on him as she worked herself down his cock, even as wet as she was, it still took some time for her to fit him all the way inside, the stretch making her stomach tight and warm. When she was seated fully, the head of his cock bumped soundly against her cervix. While some girls didn’t like the feeling, it hit her buttons just right.

“You okay?” he asked, brushing her curls from her face, when she still hadn’t moved.

“So okay,” Darcy groaned and leaned back with her hands on his thighs, feeling him shift just a little inside of her, causing her inner muscles to clench just a little. She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck and started a slow steady rhythm, his hands on her hips helping guide her. “Harder, I need you harder,” she panted and squealed as he bodily lifted them both, slamming them down on the bed with her underneath him. He hitched her legs over his shoulders and slammed back in with more force then she could have managed.

“That good, baby?” he asked as he used his new leverage to fuck into her with force, the feel of him hitting her end sending stars alight behind her eyes.

“Oh god,” Darcy dug her blunt nails into his back, dragging them down as her orgasm washed over her. He arched his back, hands tightening on her thighs hard enough to leave bruises, as he pulsed inside her, before dropping his weight carefully onto her. “You know, I don’t usually do this,” she ran her hands up and down his back, every inch of her still sensitive, the scars running up and down his back feeling amazing against the pads of her fingers.

“No judgment,” he mumbled against her collar bone. “My line of work, mostly, this is what you get; couple of nights, then you’re moved on.”

“No girl waiting back home somewhere?” Darcy asked, not really wanting to know. “Even jack booted thugs deserve a girl.”

“No, no girl back home, homes kind of a duffle bag back at base,” he sighed. “You gonna be my girl till we both move on?”

“Could do, soldier boy,” she stole a kiss from his lips and pushed at his weight. “Go clean up, I want a nap before round two.”

Jane woke them at three in the morning, getting an eyeful of the soldier’s bare ass. She pulled Darcy out of bed, shoving a t-shirt at her. “Come one, there’s something I want you to check out,” Jane pulled the shirt over Darcy’s head, and tried to push her out the door.

“Hey,” Darcy pulled herself out of her friend’s hands. “I’ll be out in a minute, but I need pants first.” She pushed her friend out the door. “You gonna be here when I get back?” she asked the soldier.

“Sure thing, Darling.” He wasn’t, and Darcy missed the note the fluttered away in the hot desert air as she pulled her door open, eyes half lidded. She missed an apology and his name and phone number.

*****

Darcy sat in the bathroom of Jane’s lab at Culver University, waiting for the small egg timer that her best friend and boss had set up on the sink. “Not blue, not blue,” she sat on the closed lid of the toilet and watched the seconds tick down.

“I hate to tell you, Darce,” Jane leaned on the door, arms crossed over her stomach. “You’ve been throwing up hourly for the last two months, you missed your period twice now, this is just a formality at this point.”

“I can’t be pregnant,” Darcy fought off another wave of nausea. “I’ve had sex once in the last year, Janie, I never missed a pill and we used a condom.”

“And no birth control is one hundred percent,” Jane reasoned, helping her friend to the sink as the green feeling made its way up her throat, and she vomited the ginger ale and saltines back up. Darcy just wiped her mouth and eyed her friend as the timer dinged.

“Well, you were right,” she held up the pregnancy test which clearly read positive in cheerful blue.

“I know,” Jane nodded, pulling her friend into a hug.

“Agent Asshole must have like super sperm,” Darcy mumbled into her friends shoulder.

“Upside,” the astrophysicist ran her hands though the other girl’s hair as hot tears soaked into her flannel shirt. “Now that you’ve graduated, I can actually pay you.”

“I can still work here?” Darcy wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her friend an appraising look.

“As long as you and the niblet want,” Jane kissed her friends cheek, and pulled her back into a hug. “Who else will make sure I don’t dehydrate on a daily basis.”

*****

Darcy squeezed her four year old daughter’s fingers as they rode up the elevator of Stark, sorry Avenger Tower. Hannah had just started going through a phase where she was scared of heights, and Darcy one hundred present blamed that on her daughter’s Uncle Tony, and his stories about being Ironman.

“Mommy,” Hannah’s grey blue eyes were fixed on the elevator doors. “How come Uncle Tony’s making us move in with him?”

“He’s not making us, baby girl,” Darcy answered running her fingers down her daughters sandy blonde bride. “He’s inviting us. He’s got a new lab for Aunt Janie and mommy.”

“Okay,” the little girl sighed and leaned against her mom. “Can I show Uncle Tony my new Brave bow?”

“Sure, baby, just as soon as we’ve settled in,” the door opens on the Avenger common room, and Darcy takes a quick look around, giving Thor and Jane a big smile. Hannah runs from the elevator like her feet are on fire.

“Uncle Tony, Uncle Tony,” Hannah lunges into the billionaire’s arms. “Look at what mommy got me.” She holds up her new child sized Brave toy. “I can be just like Merida now.”

“Just don’t shoot Uncle Tony,” Tony said very seriously, before breaking out into a big smile. “How’s my favorite niblet?”

Darcy’s eyes wondered around the room, and stopped dead on a certain Jack Booted Thug she never thought she’d see again. “Well, shit.”

“Mommy said a bad word,” Hannah whispered loudly.

“Yeah, mommy’s about to say a lot more,” Darcy dropped her bag on the floor. “Hey Thor, you think you can take Hannah to the kitchen, I’m pretty sure she needs a snack after our long trip?”

“It would be my pleasure to take young Lady Hannah,” Thor scooped the little girl up in his arms and walked out of the room.

“Darcy,” Jane followed her friend’s line of sight. “That’s Agent Asshole, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” she walked over to Jane, giving Clint the stink eye while she planned her next move.

“I wonder if he’s still got a great ass,” Jane whispered, not as quietly as she intended.

“Yeah, I’ve got twenty seven hours of labor and nine months of ralphing my guts ups that say I don’t really care,” Darcy tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked right up the man in question, punching him as hard as she could, right across the jaw. Her hands went directly up to her mouth in horror. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” she tried not to giggle at the look on his face. “But it felt really good.” She turned to walk away.

“Hey, wait,” Clint reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Got nothing to say to you,” she pulled her arm from his grip. “Agent Asshole.”

“It’s Clint,” he said to her back.

“I really don’t care,” Darcy picked up her bag, cognizant of all the other people in the room watching them have a very privet fight.

“Then why’d you hit me,” Clint walked up behind her and asked quietly.

“Cause you left, no word just snuck out after you said you’d stay,” she took a deep breath and threw the strap of her bag around her shoulders.

“I told you I got called out,” he whispered, looking around at his team who were all pretending not to watch. “You’re the one who never called.”

“Told me?” Darcy rounded on him, and he ducked, ready for another fist coming at his face. “How? Morse Code, smoke signals, not a word.” She hated that he was getting under her skin, but she refused to acknowledge the tear that was running down her face. “And how was I supposed to call, you at one eight hundred I’m a dick how thinks just cause he went down on a girl he can be a coward and sneak the fuck out? You said you would stay.”

“I left a note,” Clint deflated. “Explained I had to go, asked you to call, signed my name and everything.”

“Never got a note,” she shrugged.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

“Look, I got to go settle my daughter in,” Darcy walked towards the kitchen, shouldering past a red head with a sour look on her face.

“She’s mine, isn’t she?” Clint asked, pleading her to turn and look at him. Yeah, it’d been a hook up from a dingy bar in the back end of nowhere, but he’d been genially unhappy that he’d gotten called away before he’d even gotten to tell her his name, it stuck with him.

“Nope, she’s mine,” Darcy didn’t dare turn around. “You were just the lucky sperm donor.”

*****

The door sounded as Darcy was tucking Hannah into her brand new bed, a copy of Robin Hood perched on the bedside table. “Come in,” she called, expecting Jane to walk through the doors. Instead it was the red head from the common room. “You lost?”

“I don’t think so,” the woman said, taking a seat in the living room watching as Darcy quietly shut her daughter’s bedroom door. “Can we talk?” Darcy just shrugged and sat down. “I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be, but can I tell you a few things you’ve missed.”

“You trying to get me not to hit your friend again?” the younger girl asked, pulling a throw pillow into her lap, and eyeing the woman in her apartment.

“I’m pretty sure he deserved it. I’m Natasha, by the way,” the red head extended her hand and Darcy shook it.

“Darcy Lewis,” she gave the woman a small half smile.

“Oh, I know,” Natasha leaned back against the couch. “I know you don’t believe this, but you made an impression on Clint. He’d just finished signing his divorce papers. I’m not saying that cause you were some kind of rebound, but you might have been, but the divorce from Bobbi, it’d been brewing for a while. Their main point of contention was the Clint wanted kids, and Bobbi didn’t.”

“Natasha,” Darcy stopped her. “I appreciate the fact that you’re trying to be a good friend.”

“I’m not saying that Clint would have done something to make this happen,” Natasha interrupted.

“I never thought that,” Darcy told her. “Actually, I’ve got it on good authority that that blame falls very heavily on Thor’s shoulders. Did you know that in addition to the god of thunder, he’s also a fertility god?” Natasha just raised an eyebrow. “Yep, and just that morning, our dear friend the fertility god blessed me. I didn’t know it at the time, but yep, apparently godly powers trump all forms of birth control. Of course we didn’t know this until Hannah was nearly two and Thor tumbled back out of the sky.”

“What I’m saying,” Natasha said after a long silence. “Is that I would appreciate it if you would at least think about giving Clint a chance to be a father to his daughter.”

“I make no promises,” Darcy huffed; letting a few tears she swore she was finished with, roll down her cheeks. “You know, for the first few months, I kept thinking I saw him, I’d turn around and I’d get a flash of one of the Shield thugs and think it was him. After a while I gave up, I had Hannah and she’s my world, I didn’t need her father to be around.”

“Why didn’t you try and find him?”

“He left without a word,” Darcy rubbed her hands over her face. “I didn’t need it spelled out; he wasn’t interested, no matter what he told me.”

“But he was,” Natasha countered.

“And I didn’t know that,” Darcy got up and walked to the door. “Look, you’ve done your friend duty, I’ll think about it. I mean, not much else I can do, we live in the same building, we work at the same fucking place. But, he needs to be one hundred percent sure that this is what he wants, I’m not introducing my daughter to her father and then hold her while he walks away.”

“There is nothing in this world that would make that man walk away from what’s his,” Natasha assured her. “Nothing. He’s loyal to a fault.”

“Yeah, he’s just going to have to prove that to me,” Darcy closed the door behind Natasha, not seeing Clint sitting in the hallway, looking in, hopefully.


	2. Being Adult

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have chapter 2.
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 2: Being Adult

Clint watched as Darcy dropped their daughter off at the Tower’s daycare center the next morning, through the common room’s floor to ceiling windows, feeling like a bit of a creep. He twisted the drink sleeve around his black coffee, Nat had told him to give her time to settle in, but he needed to talk to Darcy before he lost the nerve.

He watched as his little girl clung to her mother’s hands, her little feet in their tiny black converse sneakers, fidgeted as her eyes scanned the room. Darcy gently pulled her fingers out of the girl’s grasp and bent down to their daughter’s level and straightened her purple t-shirt, kissing her forehead before she stood. Hannah hesitated for only a moment before skipping off to explore. Clint watched Darcy as she watched their daughter, and for a moment as soft smile alighted her lips. He felt ridiculous smiling as he peered down through the glass at her. They’d barely known each other five years earlier, a random bar hook up in the ass end of nowhere; he had no excuse for the soft feelings that crept up as he watched her.

Darcy pushed through the glass doors of the daycare and spotted him watching, her smile falling. She fisted her hands into her hips and scrunched up her face, and fuck him, he thought it was cute. Clint held up the coffee and he could see her give in, holding up one finger as she headed toward the Avenger’s privet elevator.

The elevator doors closed and Darcy tugged at her shirt, trying to get the wrinkles out. Everything she owned had been boxed up and shipped from England two weeks before, which meant that everything she owned needed to be washed and dried and hung up before it would be ready for human consumption. She felt like she smelled like cardboard. When the doors opened on the common room floor she stepped out, the butterflies in her stomach doing a number on her nerves, and making that very tempting coffee offer sound like a really bad idea. ‘You’re an adult,’ Darcy reminded herself as she caught sight of Clint across the room. ‘You can have a civilized conversation with your daughter’s father without giving in to the urge to hit him, or climb him like a fucking tree, because he was still all kinds of hot.’ Darcy even almost believed what she told herself.

“Your girlfriend came and visited me last night,” she said as she slid into the chair across from him.

“Natasha isn’t my girlfriend,” Clint shuddered a bit at that thought. “She’s more like a sister, a moody, very deadly sister.” He took in the woman sitting before him, she’d grown up a lot in the years since they’d last seen each other, but he supposed being a single mother would do that to someone. “I brought coffee,” he pushed the offering across the table and watched as she wrapped her fingers around the paper to-go cup, pulling off the lid and taking a long, slow breath of the strong brew. “Dr. Foster said it was the best way to get you to talk to me.”

“Dr. Foster is a very smart woman, who would probably kick your sorry ass for calling her Dr. Foster. She was also very right,” Darcy gave him a small smile as she sipped the steaming beverage; Clint counted that as a win.

“She ever going to stop calling me Agent Asshole?” he sat back, letting his legs extend as far as they could under the table.

“Probably not anytime soon,” she snorted into the drink, eyeing him over the rim. “She started calling you that right around the time I was rounding out my first trimester and I was still puking my guts out every hour. It kinda stuck.”

“Sorry,” it was stupid, even if he had been around, there wouldn’t have been shit he could have done for her.

“How’s your jaw?” Darcy could see the deep purple that colored the skin under the stubble along his face.

“Bruised,” Clint ran his fingers along the slight swelling. She had a nice right hook for a civilian.

“Sorry,” hitting him had been childish. At least Hannah hadn’t seen her do it. The little girl had a bit of a temper, just like her mom.

“Eh,” he shrugged, taking a drink of his black coffee, the bitter taste coating his tongue. “I’ve had worse and deserved it less.”

“You didn’t deserve it,” Darcy mumbled into her drink.

“Look,” Clint sat up, curling his feet under his chair and leaning across the table. “Darcy, I know you barely know me, and I’ve got no right to ask, but I want the chance to get to be Hannah’s dad.”

“That’s what Natasha said,” she put the lid on her coffee and rubbed her hands over her face. This was not what she’d been expecting when she and Jane agreed to move to New York and into Avenger Tower. “It’s just hard.”

“I’m sorry,” he wasn’t really sure what else he could say.

“You gotta stop apologizing,” she sighed, picking at the sleeve around her coffee cup. “It’s not all your fault. I was the one who decided not to go looking for you.” She didn’t want to see the hurt clouding Clint’s eyes. “I could have, easily,” she admitted. “All I had to do was ask Coulson, and I didn’t.” He flinched at his old handler’s name, and pushed slightly away from the table.

“You were hurt,” Clint said, not looking up at her.

“Yeah,” it felt ridiculous now; she shouldn’t have been so upset over some guy not keeping his word after she picked him up in a bar. “Look,” she rubbed her hands over her hair, trying to figure out how to fit this man into her daughter’s life, meaning he would be in her life, also. “Hannah started getting curious about her dad about a year ago, I mean, all her friends lived with a mom and a dad, and she’s got me and Jane and sometimes Thor. While we were in London and I was in Grad school she spent a lot of time at friends’ houses, and started to feel weird that she didn’t have a dad, too.” Darcy pushed the coffee away, no longer interested in the cooling brew. “I told Hannah that her father couldn’t be around cause he had a super important job,” she looked Clit up and down, her little girl’s father was a fucking Avenger. “That he was off making the world safer for everyone.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I won’t disappoint her in that respect,” Clint watched her struggle, knowing he wasn’t making anything easier. “Though, if I’d known, that wouldn’t have kept me away.”

“She goes presents from her father on her birthday every year, Hanukah, too,” she twisted her fingers between her hands. “I never wanted her to think her dad didn’t want her, cause I know how bad that feels, my dad took off while my mom was pregnant with me. He lives in Vegas with his new family; he has four kids and has never once sent me so much as a card.”

“So you lied to her?” he asked, filing her abandonment issues away.

“Yep,” Darcy agreed unabashedly. “Sometimes you do that to save your kids feelings,” she told him. “Don’t you dare shame me for the way I chose to raise my daughter.” She looked at him as if she were daring him to say anything. “It’s not like I was going to tell her I picked her father up in a bar and took him back to my motorhome for a quick fuck and he disappeared without a word while I was busy dealing with her crazy auntie Jane, now could I?”

“Wasn’t nothing quick about it, darling,” Clint countered, not contesting her point. “I get it. I’m sorry,” he blew out a breath. “Trust comes hard in my line of work, and I’ve gotta start my relationship with my daughter with a load of lies.”

“Not one of which will hurt her,” Darcy told him. “I never thought I’d see you again, but I wanted my daughter to love her father, even if she never knew who he was,” she crossed her arms under her breasts.

“Thank you,” he leaned back in his chair again, his feet bumping hers as he stretched out. “So, what did I get her this year?”

“Her Merida bow,” Darcy smiled, Hannah loved her bow, she carried the stupid thing everywhere, to the point that Darcy’d gotten a backup one, just in case. “She turned four last month, the eighteenth. She’s obsessed with Brave; she wants to be Merida when she grows up.”

“That’s awesome,” Clint laughed, Darcy just raised an eyebrow. “I’m an archer, Darce.”

“You’re Hawkeye,” it wasn’t a question. “Thor’s been regaling Hannah with stories of his good friend Hawkeye, who never misses.” Darcy deflated, Hannah was going to be so excited that Uncle Thor’s friend the world’s greatest marksman was also her father. “Hannah writes letters to her father, too.”

“And you write answers?” he asked.

“No, she gets gifts a few times a year, but I couldn’t stretch the lie that far,” Darcy shook her head and started to peel apart the coffee sleeve. “I’ve got them all in a box in my room.”

“Okay,” he nodded his head, prying Darcy’s fingers away from the cup before she completely destroyed it, and holding them in his hands.

“I’ll give them to you, if you’re serious about this,” she let him hold her hands. “You gotta promise not to break my little girl’s heart, cause if you do, I’ll taser your balls till thy shrivel up and fall off.”

“I’ll do everything I can,” Clint squeezed her hand.

“Good,” Darcy shook her head. “I gotta get to the lab before Jane sets something on fire.”

*****

Darcy slid into the chair behind her desk and booted up her brand new, state of the art computer. Tony had been hounding Jane to move to New York for years. He’d bribed her with everything from new equipment to more money, to one hundred percent control of her findings, to free housing. What finally tipped the scale for her best friend and boss? Tony enrolled Hannah into kindergarten in New York, at one of the best privet schools in the country, and footed the bill, all the way through graduation. Jane signed her Stark Industries contract the next day. Darcy cried.

“So,” her boss sidled up to the desk, resting her bony butt on a mound of notes that were waiting to be entered into the computer. “Did Agent Asshole bite the bullet?”

“He wants to be her dad,” Darcy watched the welcome screen pop up with the Stark Industries logo.

“And?” Jane prompted.

“Thor trusts him, right?” she bit her thumb nail. “I mean, he’s an Avenger, right, so he’s gotta be a good guy.”

“He’s a good guy, Darce,” her friend pried her hand out of her mouth. “I wouldn’t have told him to offer coffee if I didn’t think so.”

“I told him to come by and pick up Hannah’s letters,” Darcy pulled up the spread sheet she’d been working on. “I don’t know how to do this.”

“Pick up Hannah after school, tell her you have a big surprise coming for dinner,” Jane shrugged, flipping through the pages on Darcy’s desk and generally creating chaos. “She’ll be so excited; she won’t realize she saw him yesterday.”

“He hates that I lied to her,” she stuffed her hands into her curls, pulling gently. This was way too much stress on top of moving from fucking England.

“Well, he’ll just have to suck it up,” her best friend said. “Here, call him; tell him to be at your place at seven. Make your famous chocolate pie,” Jane got up and walked away. “Now go home, you’re not use to me today,” she waved Darcy off and disappeared into her office. Darcy banged her head on the desk a couple of times and put the phone number Jane had handed her into her phone, listening to the phone ring. Being an adult sucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be Clint meeting Hannah, and Darcy dealing with the awkward questions her daughter inevitably asks.


	3. First Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone's week is going well. We've had a bit of stress in my family, but we seem to be weathering the storm well enough for me to pound out this chapter, as difficult as this one was to break.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 3: First Steps

Clint stood outside Darcy’s apartment door feeling like a green teenager about to knock on the door for his very first date. His palms were sticky and he was positive that he’d sweated through the dress shirt that Natasha had wrestled him into before shoving him out the door of his own apartment. Awkward did not even begin to describe how he felt, one hand poised to knock, as he gave himself a swift pep talk. All the things he’d done in his life and going to meet his four year old daughter over dinner was the thing that had him paralyzed with fear. Clint was so engrossed with his own inner turmoil that he didn’t notice the door in front of him opening.

Darcy took one look at the man standing in her doorway, and felt a thousand times better about her decision to let him into their lives. He stood completely still, eyes focused into the middle distance, clearly caught up in his own thoughts, which flitted across his face clear as day, determination, apprehension, fear, anger, hope, it was like being able to see directly into his mind. Added to that, he was clearly nervous, and had been for a while, dark rings of sweat stained the under arms of his dress shirt, which he’d pulled the top button loose on, and had been tugging at, probably the entire ten minutes he’d been standing frozen at her door. Darcy closed her hand over his raised fist, his eyes finally drawn from their reverie in the space just over her left shoulder, and down to meet with hers. “You know, Friday already announced your arrival,” she smirked at his shocked expression. “You coming in, or are you eating in the hallway?”

“I’m coming in,” he frowned down at his hand still in hers, the warmth of her fingers seeping into his skin. “Just needed a minute.”

“You good now?” she asked, hitching her hip against the door frame, one ear towards the living room where their daughter was standing transfixed in front of the television.

“Let’s do this,” Clint nodded his head firmly and wet to take a step through the door, only to be stopped by a hand on his chest. “What?”

“You’re not going into battle, soldier boy,” Darcy took a slight step back, her hand still holding him on the opposite side of the threshold. “You have any experience with kids?” he winced. “They can smell fear, soldier, you walk through this door, you need to only be excited about meeting Hannah, not worried about anything else. You get down on her level when she talks to you, and let her call the shots.” Clint nodded, swallowing down the last of his apprehension. She wasn’t stopping him from meeting Hannah, just worried herself. “And no tossing my child after she eats, she loves it when Thor throws her in the air, but you do it after dinner and you are responsible for the consequences.”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded again, letting her instructions wash over him.

“Call me ma’am again and I’ll tase you,” Darcy told him, looking through her lashes at him, and hoping he could feel the sincerity of that statement bore into him.

“You aren’t making me any less nervous,” he took her hand from his chest, holding it lightly in both of his, studiously studying the veins that ran bright blue under her nearly translucent skin.

“Not my job,” she shrugged and pulled her hand back. “Hannah, honey, I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

“But mommy,” the little girl’s voice rang clear over the dramatic Celtic tunes coming from the apartment’s living room. “Merida’s climbing the fire falls.”

“Hannah Elizabeth,” Darcy pulled out her mom voice, fairly hearing her daughter’s teeth clamp shut over another excuse. “Please turn off the TV and come here.”

“Yes, mommy,” the abrupt cessation of sound from the movie plunged the entire apartment into deafening silence as Darcy and Clint watched for the girl to round the corner.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Clint whispered. “I could have just.”

Darcy cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Once you ask her to do something, you gotta follow through,” she told him, her eyes on his again. “Even if it doesn’t seem worth it, if you let it go once, she’ll try and walk all over you.”

“Who are you?” a small voice asked from a dusky blonde head peaking around Darcy’s left hip.

“Hannah,” Darcy pulled the girl around her legs and knelt behind her, holding her daughter’s shoulders carefully. “This is Clint,” she looked up at the archer, giving him a nod of her head. He sank down to their level, one knee gently touching the floor. “He’s your father.” Darcy could feel her daughter freeze in her arms, a coil of potential energy sizzling through her tiny body. The girl turned her head slowly to look at her mother.

“Really?” Hannah breathed out, her body nearly vibrating with excitement. Darcy just nodded, and like she was spring loaded, the little girl launched herself into Clint’s arms, knocking them both onto the carpeted hallway floor in a tangle of tiny limbs.

Darcy stood, trying desperately to contain her laughter as she held out her hand to help Clint to his feet, Hannah’s little arms locked tight around his neck. He held the girl gently as he let Darcy pulling him up. “It’s good to meet you too, sweetheart,” he looked down at the small child nestled in his arms, her head tucked under his chin, and beamed.

“Aren’t you gonna kiss mommy hello?” Hannah’s blue grey eyes pleaded with him. “Tommy’s daddy always kisses his mommy when he gets home from being away, and you’ve been away a very long time.”

Clint looked over at Darcy who had shock written all over her face. He just shrugged and leaned in, placing a quick peck on the apple of her cheek. “It’s good to have you home,” he said, looking between Darcy and their little girl. “Can I come in now?” Hannah nodded sagely and Darcy watched the two walk by, shutting the door after them.

*****

Hannah sat on the couch between her two parents, their hands hand pertectively by both of hers crossed over her chest. After dinner she’d insisted that she had to show her daddy her favorite movie, she’d told him about it frequently in her letters and just knew he had to be curious to see it for himself. Clint had looked at Darcy, knowing that it was already growing late and the young girl would need to go to bed sooner rather than later.

“Sometimes we make acceptations,” Darcy shrugged, leading the girl over to the television and watching diligently as she turned it on. “I think hanging out with your dad for the first time is an acceptable reason to stay up late.” She smiled at him as he made himself comfortable on the couch. “But we’re not making this a habit, niblet. When daddy says its bed time, it’s the same as when mommy says its bedtime,”

“Yes, mommy,” Hannah climbed up onto the couch and nestled her parents around her.

With the credits rolling, Hannah’s head started to bow, her eyes blinking slowly as she tilted over, resting against Clint’s arm. A long sigh escaped her lips and she sagged fully against him. “I think it’s time for someone to go to bed,” Darcy smiled down at her little girl.

“No mommy,” a big yawn cracked open the girls jaw. “Just five more minutes.”

“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” Clint carefully lifted the little girl off the couch and looked at her mother. “Mommy says bedtime.”

“But daddy,” Hannah was like a ragdoll in his arms, arms and legs loose and pliant as she tried to fight sleep. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he followed Darcy down the hall into Hannah’s room, gently settling the child down under her dark purple comforter on her canopy bed, fit for a princess, his princess. “Remember, we talked about this at dinner.”

“You live just upstairs, and I can come visit anytime I want, as long as mommy says it’s okay,” another yawn tore through the girl and she sagged back onto her pillow. “But Tommy’s daddy lives with them and sleeps in his mommy’s room.”

“Hannah,” Darcy sighed, they’d already gone over this once that evening, though she knew she’d be repeating herself a lot in this regard. “Your daddy and I are different than Tommy’s parents.”

“I know, daddy’s been gone a long time,” Hannah’s eyes didn’t even try to open. “But he’s back now; you can be like Tommy’s mommy and daddy.”

“We’ll see, sweetheart,” Clint kissed her gently on her forehead and stood up, not seeing the look Darcy was throwing him. “Good night.”

“Night daddy, mommy,” the girl snuggled down into her covers and wrapped her arms around an old bear, pulling the covers up to her chin.

Clint watched as Darcy quietly pulled Hannah’s door shut, her back to him. She set her forehead against the door and blew out a long breath. “You want a cup of coffee or something,” she said to the door, not ready to turn around.

“You sure?” Clint waited as she collected herself and pushed away from the door, she nodded and he followed her into the kitchen again, still messy from dinner. “You want help cleaning up?”

Darcy tossed the paper plates in the trash and dumped the take out containers into the fridge. “All done,” she shrugged. “For the record, I do actually have plates and things like a real adult,” she looked around her home that was stacked high with unopened boxes. “I actually think I have more real adult things than Jane does.”

“No judgment,” Clint held his hands up. “I’m betting you have more real adult things than I do.”

“No doubt,” she pulled two mugs down from one nearly empty cabinet, she had priorities after all, dishes could wait, but coffee couldn’t. “You know, giving up coffee while I was pregnant was possibly the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, with the possible exception of actual labor. That sucked.”

“I’m sorry,” he watched her fill the carafe with water and dump it into the coffee maker, then measure out level scoops of dark grounds.

“What did I say about apologizing?” she didn’t even bother to turn. “So, how long have you lived in the tower? And yes I know that totally sounds like a first date question, or a stupid pick up line.”

“How much clearance do you have?”

“All of it,” Darcy waved away his next question. “Shield figured after the Destroyer in New Mexico and the Dark Elves in London, there was no reason not to give Jane and I clearance, plus, Thor over shares,” she watched his eyebrow raise. “Yeah, about everything, do not ask him what he and Jane did last night; he will tell you, in grand Nordic style, it’s disturbing.”

“I’ll bet,” Clint leaned against the counter and folded his hands, looking down at them. “Tony gave us all space after Loki’s attach on New York, but I didn’t move in until after Shield fell.”

“So a few years then,” Darcy nodded and poured them each a mug of coffee. “Jane didn’t want to move to New York, she wanted to go back to New Mexico after we left London. I think she only stayed in England for so long so I could finish my degree.”

“Degree?” he took a sip of the hot beverage and his eyes blew wide. “Jesus, this could burn the hair right off your chest.”

“Which is how I keep my chest miraculously free of hair,” she smirked. “I got my masters in theoretical Physics, god I can’t believe I just said that. Yes, I have a masters in Physics from Cambridge.” She took a moment. “I’m still surprised they let me in. It was probably Jane’s doing, but she won’t fess up.”

“That’s amazing,” Clint told her sincerely. “I have a GED from the great state of Iowa, and I only did that so I could join Special Forces.”

“So, Clint Barton,” Darcy eyed him over the rim of her mug, breathing deep the rich earthy smell of her darkest roast. “Tell me your story.”

“How long you got?”

“We have fourteen years until Hannah graduates high school,” she shrugged, watching the enormity of time dawn on him.

“Yeah,” he took a deep drink, ignoring the fact that he was burning his mouth. “So, when I was six, my brother Barney and I ran away to join the circus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a small token in the box below to help fortify this writer, so that she can write the next chapter.
> 
> Thank you so much!


	4. School Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I think I'm getting back on track with updates, and with only four stories, it'll be so much easier to keep track of what needs to be updated. Thank you all for continuing to read and review, it means so much to me.
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 4: School Days

Darcy settled herself down in front of her computer, a stack of notes piled haphazardly next to the keyboard. She thumbed through the stack, settling the papers into piles, putting each in order of date, before cracking her knuckles slowly.

“Morning,” Jane breezed by, clearly on her fourth or fifth cup of coffee for the day, provided she’d even gone home the night before. Judging by the work load on Darcy’s desk, she was betting the scientist hadn’t.

“Did you sleep, boss lady?” she watched as her friend rifled through her meticulously stacked notes.

“Yep,” the scientist shrugged. “Thor came and got me before dinner.”

“Good,” Darcy pulled up one of her spread sheets and started inputting data. Jane’s work had become infinitely more understandable now that Darcy’d taken the time to actually learn physics. “So, Hannah met Clint.”

“How’d that go?” Jane pulled a pencil from her hair and ticked off some new data points off of one of her hand made machines.

“I’m in so much trouble,” she pulled the top sheet from the closest pile. Jane had made some great progress in understanding the way portholes worked, or at least how the Convergence had, in theory, aligned the Nine Realms, but the generation of her own Einstein-Rosen bridge was still theoretical at best. “They got along like a house on fire.”

“That’s awesome,” her friend dropped a new sheet down on her desk, and Darcy quickly put it on the bottom of the appropriate stack. “Speaking of, when does Hannah start Pre-K?”

“Speaking of, how is that speaking of?” Darcy watched Jane set her butt against the desk, a pencil slipping from her hair. The scientist just shrugged, causing the pencil to drop down and clatter to the floor. Jane ignored it. “Next week,” she said, flicking some paper scraps off the desk and into the trash can under it. “Oh, shit,” Darcy pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts before opening a call.

“Barton,” he barked out on the other end of the line.

“You sound happy,” she was a bit taken aback by the soldier’s harsh tone, and wondered if he’d even read the caller ID before answering.

“Hey Darce,” Clint tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear, softening his voice. Natasha had been calling every ten minutes to see if he was done yet, and he was really ready to shove her Stark phone somewhere extremely uncomfortable. “Yeah, paperwork,” he slouched back in his chair. “Brings out the whiney bitch in me.”

“Ouch,” Darcy looked over at her ever growing pile of data entry, feeling his pain. “What did you do to get stuck on desk duty?”

“Met this chick at a bar, cute girl, you’d like her. Long story short, I knocked her up,” he smiled at her quite chuckle. “Turns out, having family requires a ridiculous amount of forms, most of them in triplicate.”

“Sorry,” she pulled a new page down and let her fingers walk across the keyboard.

“Not your fault, sweetheart,” Clint shrugged and added his current form to the done pile. “Actually, your part was easy; you’re already vetted with Shield and Stark Industries, so the C and C was just a formality.”

“You filed me as close and continuing?” Darcy’s hands stopped dead on the keys.

“They don’t have a form for Baby Momma,” he deadpanned. “Closest they got that gives you a modicum of protection if something happens to me. Of course explaining to Fury why I’m just doing this now, that was less than fun.”

“I can only imagine,” her fingers relaxed and she pulled over a new page of notes. “It took four pregnancy tests and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s for Jane to convince me I was actually pregnant. The expanding waist line helped, too.”

“Sorry,” Clint had this kicked puppy voice that Darcy had discovered over the past couple of days that just pulled at her heart strings.

“Stop saying that,” she huffed, pushing her rolly chair back from her desk, exchanging Jane’s coffee cup for a glass of water while the scientist was distracted. “It happened, I got a kick ass kid out of it,” she shrugged, dumping her bosses remaining coffee down the sink. “Plus, it was Chocolate Therapy; Jane always breaks out the good stuff when she needs to cheer me up. It was like the only thing I didn’t throw up in the first two months.”

Clint swallowed down another apology. “Right,” he twisted his fingers together around his pen. “So, having actual progeny means lots of health forms and in case of, shit.”

“Oh,” Darcy thought all the realities of having her daughter’s father in her life had already hit her, but the blows just kept coming.

“So, I’m sure you didn’t call just to hear bitch, what’s up?” he kicked his feet up on the desk, leaning his chair back on two legs.

“Um, well,” she twisted her hands together. “Hannah starts school next week, and I kinda have to go in and ironically enough, fill out a bunch of paperwork.” She took a deep breath, it wasn’t a big deal, he didn’t have to go with her, it’s not like she’d expected to have him there anyway. Right. “And I thought you might wanna come.”

“Sure,” Clint said without any hesitation. “When?”

“You don’t have to,” Darcy said quietly.

“Darcy, when?” he asked again, his voice soft but firm.

“This afternoon,” she let out the breath she’d told herself she shouldn’t be holding.

“Awesome,” Clint dropped his feet off the desk and scooted back in. “I’ll finish up here and head over to the lab,” he pulled the next triplicate form off his to be completed stack, the tiny black writing blurring together. “We can grab lunch and then go to the school. Where’s Hannah going anyway?”

“Preston Academy,” Darcy could hear him suck air in through his teeth and felt like a total snob. Clint hadn’t even finished high school, and here she was sending his daughter to the snootiest privet school in the state.

“Shit,” he hissed out, looking down at his scoffed combat boots and tach pants, paired with his Shield sweatshirt. He felt like a total slob. “How’d you manage to get her in there?”

“Tony,” she answered in a small voice, slipping her feet out of her killer high heels that Pepper had bought her a year before.

“Right,” Clint started scribbling furiously at the form in his hands, he’d need to go home and change before he picked up Darcy. “And how are we paying for Preston, you know senators’ kids go there.”

“We aren’t,” Darcy said, putting a little more emphasis into her voice then was strictly necessary. “Tony used it as a bribe to get Jane and I to cross the Pond and come work for him.”

“Remind me to thank the bastard.”

*****

Clint squirmed in his chair, tugging at the cuffs of his suit jacket as they waited for the headmaster to come in and meet with them. He watched as Darcy sat quietly, one leg crossed over the other, her deep purple pencil skirt riding high on her thighs, and doing nothing to quell his nervousness. She looked perfectly at ease and gorgeous, and Clint felt like a complete fraud. He wasn’t a plaid skirt and sweater kind of guy, he was ripped jeans and dusty boots. He didn’t think Darcy was either.

“Dude, relax,” she smiled at him reassuringly, patting the hand closest to her. “We’re not in trouble or anything.”

“Kinda feels like it,” he looked around at the towering bookshelves, filled with hardback books with gilded bindings, feeling very small. “This chair had to have cost more than all my furniture put together.”

“Spend a lot of time in the principal’s office?” Darcy smirked, feeling the sweat on his palm as he gripped her hand.

“None actually,” Clint let her calm demeanor bleed into him. “We were home schooled in the circus. I never went back to school after,” he shrugged. He’d told her about Barney and their fight.

“Right,” Darcy flicked a quick glance up at his ear, not even able to see the hearing aid buried deep in his ear canal. “I thought you had to have a degree to join Shield.” He’d told her he’d gotten his GED, it just hadn’t clicked that he’d never went to college.

“Or an exemplary military record,” he told her, relaxing further. Talking to Darcy helped, he didn’t’ feel like she was judging him, even in the world’s most intimidating elementary school principal’s office on the planet. “Course, they make exceptions.”

“Like Natasha,” she guessed, and Clint just nodded. “Right,” she wiped her palm off on her skirt. “You need better furniture.” The archer just tipped his head and looked at her. “If a hundred dollar chair cost more than all your furniture, you need better shit. Hannah’s not sleeping on milk crates when she spends the night.”

Clint looked at her for another moment, caught up in the idea of his daughter getting to spend real time with him. “I’ll get her a nice bed,” he finally said. “How do you know how much this chair cost?”

“Every college I’ve ever been to has these things,” Darcy shrugged, running her fingers down the wood arm of the chair. “You can usually get them at the school store with the school crest on the back, they’re about a hundred, hundred fifty, usually,” she took a good look at the man next to her, his suit fit nicely, but she knew how uncomfortable he was in it, like he’d been uncomfortable in the dress shirt he’d worn the night before. Clint was a soldier, not an executive or a pencil pusher. “I worked at Culver’s store to help pay for college.”

“Oh,” he just sat there and looked at her. She looked so comfortable in her purple suit and her thousand dollar shoes, he’d almost forgotten that she was the same girl in chucks and a knit beany that he’d picked up at a bar; that her mom was a waitress back in Kansas. “So maybe it just cost more than the furniture in my living room. Minus the TV.” Darcy barked out a laugh and took hold of his hand again, feeling it nice and warm, and noticeably more dry. “It’s still intimidating as fuck.”

“And that is what we are going for here at Preston,” a middle aged man with dark hair, greying at this temples, closed the big wooden door behind them. Both Darcy and Clint tensed as they watched the impeccably dressed headmaster round his desk, despite Darcy’s reassurance about not being in trouble. “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Lewis. Welcome to Preston Academy, I look forward to meeting Miss. Hannah.” He sat down in his high backed leather desk chair. Clint just raised his eyebrow at Darcy; this was going to be a long meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And fluff, its all fluff. Such a nice break from the drama and pain of some of my other stories.
> 
> Please don't forget to leave a comment in the box below. It fuels the bunnies that produce the plot!


	5. Pizza and Assignments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, not even a whole day late, so that's good. Sorry, by the way. I'm feeling a little under the weather, and the prospect of trying to write anything yesterday was too daunting to even consider. That and we've had some shake ups at work, which has landed me with some new fun responsibilities, which have now eaten up nearly all of the free time I used to enjoy and use to write fanfiction.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 5: Pizza and Assignments

“That was painful,” Clint slung his arm across Darcy’s shoulders and steered her down the sidewalk and away from the hulking form of Preston Academy, looking like a specter over the street. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked if I’m married with such disdain.”

“Yep,” she slumped her head against his shoulder, feeling like they’d been through battle. “Almost as fun as trying to answer why your name wasn’t on the forms to begin with, without using the words ‘one night stand’ or ‘I didn’t know his name,’ it was a verbal gauntlet, though answering Tony did it, seemed to clear everything up.”

“And yet,” he squeezed her shoulder and opened the car door for her. “He still had this sour look every time he said Ms. Lewis or Mr. Barton.”

“I know,” Darcy let him help her into the car. “You know we were supposed to get a tour of the school.”

Clint slipped into the driver’s side and started the ignition, gripping the steering wheel and looking straight ahead, making no move to put the car in gear. “I think he just wanted us out of there as fast as possible.”

“You think?” she rolled her eyes. “I felt like a leper. But this is for Hannah.”

“Agreed,” he took a deep breath and slipped the car into gear. “I just can’t help but think it would have been so much easier for you if I hadn’t been there.”

“Maybe,” Darcy shrugged and leaned her head back against the head rest. “But life isn’t about easy.”

“What I’m saying,” Clint cleared his throat and slowed the car to a stop at a red light. “Is thank you for including me.”

“You hold on to that thought when we have to go to the first parent teacher night,” Darcy chuckled darkly. “Or better yet, PTA.” He quirked a brow and turned back to the road. “I have a feeling the teachers will be more forgiving about our never married status than the other parents.”

“We could just get married,” he reasoned, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a spectacularly bad idea,” she shook her head, her eyes slipping closed as he weaved his way expertly through down town New York traffic. “We aren’t getting married to avoid some nasty looks.”

“Your right,” Clint pushed the garage door button, pulling into the Tower’s underground parking. He hoped out of the driver’s side and looked a little disappointed when Darcy opened her own door, hanging onto the top of the door as she carefully got out in her five inch heels and tight skirt. “I will have to content myself with you just being my daughter’s mother for now.” He slung his arm back around her shoulders, leading her towards the elevator, stopping at Jane’s lab and watching her drop down onto her desk chair and kick off her shoes.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Darcy spun in her chair her stockinged feet slipping smoothly across the tiled floors as she turned. “Hannah has requested pizza for dinner.”

“Okay,” Clint leaned into the door jam, absolutely not looking at how far up her skirt had ridden when she slumped into her chair, or the fact that he could see the lace tops of her thigh highs.

“Seven o’clock wear something comfy,” she spun back around. “Hannah gets green peppers and hamburger, extra sauce,” she slid the top sheet from the closest pile of notes, into the document holder by the computer. “I’m a pineapple and sausage, no sauce, girl. If you want something else, make a request to my phone,” she spun once more and walked on stockinged feet to where he was still leaning against the door. “You know, if you want to come.”

“And pass up pizza?” he smirked. “Never.”

Darcy leaned up and pecked him on the cheek. “Thanks for coming today, and driving.”

“No problem, darling,” Clint pushed himself off the door jam. “See you at seven.”

A few minutes later Darcy’s phone dinged with a request for double pepperoni and green peppers, extra sauce. She just chuckled and clicked the phone off.

*****

Darcy slowly opened a new box, filled to the brim with books and sat down in front of her bookshelf, Hannah completely occupied with her favorite movie, again. It’s not that Darcy didn’t like Brave, it was a good movie with a strong female lead, and she felt good about letting her daughter watch it. On the other hand, by the five hundredth time, Darcy was completely over it, and ready for just about anything else. She’d only just put the last book on the shelf when the door chimed.

“Ms. Lewis,” Jarvis intoned from the speakers hidden in the ceiling panels. “It seems your pizza is here.”

“Thanks, J-man,” she pulled herself up by the shelf closest to her, and padded on bare feet to the front door. “What do I owe you?” she asked while opening the door. “Oh.”

“Deliveries are made to the front desk,” Clint smiled, handing over the boxes as he shut the door behind himself. “Security purposes. I asked Jarvis to tell me when it came in.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Darcy dumped the pizza boxes on the kitchen counter and pulled down plates. “Hannah, please turn the TV off and come get dinner.”

“You got dinner last night,” he shrugged. “I see you found your plates.”

“And books, and Hannah’s clothes,” she pulled down three glasses and grabbed the juice out of the fridge. “It’s juice or water.”

“Either’s fine,” Clint said, leaning against the counter and looking around the apartment. Many of the boxes had been broken down and folded against the wall by the door, but there were still plenty shoved into corners that needed to be unpacked.

“I’m still trying to find my clothes,” Darcy indicated the large t-shirt she was wearing, which had probably once said Culver, but was now missing letters, and the threadbare jeans with holes that had holes. “I’ve got fancy stuff and oh my god what were you thinking stuff, but nothing in-between.”

“You look fine,” he did not comment on the fact that he could tell she was wearing purple underwear or the fact that while the t-shirt was baggy on her, it didn’t hide the fact she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“I look like a mom,” she shrugged. “Which I am.”

“Daddy!” Hannah launched herself at Clint, who only just caught her before she crashed into him. “Mommy said you were coming to dinner.”

“Of course I’d come, baby girl,” he set the girl back down on her feet. “Go wash your hands.”

“Yes, daddy,” she nodded and ran to the hall bath.

“Does she run everywhere?”

“Sometimes, kids got more energy then I know what to do with sometimes, others,” Darcy handed Clint the stack of plates and directed him to the table. “She’ll stand completely immobile for hours and just concentrate.” She grabbed the pizza and followed him. “I couldn’t stand still for a minute when I was her age; I would practically vibrate if I had to sit in a chair for too long.”

“Huh,” he watched as his daughter came sprinting back down the hall and jumped up into her booster seat.

*****

Clint was just wiping off his hands when his phone sounded. Darcy just raised a brow but didn’t comment when he pulled it out of his pocket, the easy grin he’d had on his face for all of dinner, suddenly vanishing. He looked up at Darcy and then quickly at Hannah, then back, making sure he caught Darcy’s eye.

“Sweetheart,” Darcy looked over at her four year old, who had sauce down her chin and just a little on her bright purple unicorn shirt. She handed the girl a napkin and turned back to Clint, who gave her a pained look. “Can you go pick out a new movie, not Brave.” The little girl made a swipe at the tomato on her shirt, only spreading the sauce around. “Your dad and I need a minute.”

“You need mommy, daddy time,” Hannah nodded sagely. “Just like Tommy’s mommy and daddy do.”

Clint froze and looked at Darcy, something akin to horror on his face. “What do Tommy’s mommy and daddy do when they have mommy, daddy time,” he asked.

Hannah just shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “Tommy just told me that sometimes they need alone time, they go in their room, and Tommy has to go to bed. Do I have to go to bed, mommy?”

“No,” Darcy thought she was going to choke at the look on Clint’s face. “Just go pick out a movie and we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Daddy, are you going to kiss mommy?”

“Hannah Elizabeth,” Darcy said, her mom voice leaking to the surface, Hannah snapped to attention and turned towards her. “Please do as I asked.”

“Yes mommy,” the little girl dropped off her chair and wandered into the other side of the open planed apartment.

“What’s up, Hawkman?” Darcy asked, pulling the plates off the table and depositing them in the sink.

“I gotta go out,” he said, ignoring the nick name. 

“Avenger stuff,” she ran water over the plates so nothing stuck to them and left them, drying her hands on the only kitchen towel she’d managed to find thus far.

“Yeah,” Clint handed her the glasses off the table and watched her dump their contents into the sink. “I’ll call you with what I can tell you.”

“No problem,” Darcy slid the remaining pizza into one box and pushed it into the nearly empty refrigerator, making a mental note to go shopping the next day.

“What do we tell Hannah?” he leaned against the counter, hands deep in the front pockets of his jeans.

“The truth,” she looked at him quizzically. “You’re going out on Avenger business, and you’ll be home when you can.”

“Is that okay?” Clint watched her carefully; he’d never had to explain why he was leaving or what was happening to a civilian, or whatever the hell Darcy actually was, because civilian didn’t really cover it. The people around him either already knew or couldn’t know anything.

“It’s reality, if you’re gonna be her dad, you’re her dad full time, even when you’re not here,” Darcy shrugged. “I told her you were important and doing important things, she’ll understand, and if not, she’s gonna have to get used to it.”

“Okay,” he nodded and shifted his weight off the counter. “Good.”

“Now you come back to that little girl in one piece,” she tucked the towel back into its holder. “You hear me?”

“Yes, dear,” he smiled as he watched her go round up his daughter.

The three of them sat down on the couch, the TV off. “Am I in trouble?” Hannah asked after a moment.

“No, baby,” Clint sighed and rung his hands. He had thirty minutes to grab his gear and head to the jet, he really didn’t have time to mince words, but he couldn’t find the right words to say. “Uh, I’ve got to go for a few days.”

“For work?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah,” he looked up at Darcy, who motioned for him to continue. “The Avengers need me to go out and do something.”

“Are Uncle Tony and Uncle Thor going with you?” she asked.

“Yeah, they are,” he told her, Darcy patted his shoulder and he smiled at his little girl. “They’re coming with me.”

“Okay,” the little girl said, nodding her head. “Will you be back for my first day at big school?”

“I will certainly try, sweetheart,” Clint told her, kissing her forehead and getting up.

“You gotta kiss mommy good-bye, too,” Hannah grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the couch.

“Is that what Tommy’s dad does?” he inquired.

“No,” she told him, pushing him back down onto the couch next to Darcy. “It’s just what you gotta do before you go out and do dangerous things with Uncle Tony and Uncle Thor. Mommy needs a kiss before you go, so she knows you’re going to come back.”

“I can’t argue with that,” he kisses Darcy’s forehead, just like Hannah’s, maybe just a little longer. “I’ll be back.”

“I know, soldier,” Darcy pats his shoulder, and follows him to the door.

“I’ll text you when I can, let you know whats what.”

“Don’t die.”

“Not in the plans,” he smiled and let her shut the door.

*****

The phone woke her, and Darcy turned over squinting blearily at the alarm clock on her bedside table. Just past three. She rubbed her hands over her face and contemplated ignoring it, but grabbed the phone anyway.

Clint: On our way to Russia, following a lead. I hate to ask, but could you look after Lucky while I’m gone?

Darcy: Lucky?

She watched the phone for a response, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and sitting up in bed.

Clint: My dog.

She didn’t see that one coming.

Darcy: You told me in grueling detail how your brother beat you about the head and you lost your hearing, I know the names of every agent in this building because you insisted that it was important information, but you neglected to mention that you have another mammal living in your apartment with you?

She waited for a full five minutes before a response came through.

Clint: He likes pizza.

Darcy: Is that a yes?

Clint: Please?

Darcy retyped what she was going to say nearly a dozen times before rubbing her eyes again and just going with it. 

Darcy: Of course.

She dropped the phone on the night stand when she didn’t get another text, sliding back under the covers and pulling them up to her chin. She’d slept just fine up until that point. Not knowing where he was going had helped. She told herself she couldn’t worry about him if she didn’t know what was happening, she didn’t worry about Thor or Tony when they went out, at least not much. Her phone buzzed again, just as her eyes where finally feeling heavy.

Clint: Thanks. Give Hannah a kiss for me. I’ll call when I can.

Darcy: Don’t die.

Clint: I’ll do my best.

Darcy threw the phone on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Two hours later she rolled out of bed and padded to the kitchen, giving up sleep as a lost cause. She filled the coffee maker with her extra dark roast, and jumped into the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave something for the author in the box below. It helps to feed the plot bunny (bunnies).


	6. Pizza Dog Adventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, its November and like seventy five degrees at my house, I haven't turned on the heat yet, and its killing me. As a displaced New Englander, I'm loosing my mind. So, to stave off the inevitable meltdown I'm probably going to have if we haven't even had a frost before Thanksgiving (for my non-American readers that's next Thursday), here is a new chapter full of fluff.

Handle With Care

Chapter 6: Pizza Dog Adventures

Darcy stood in front of Clint’s apartment, hair in a braid still dripping down her back from her shower. The hallway looked exactly like the one on her floor, down to the same red and blue checked carpeting that from a distance looked like it was a dirty purple, and made your eyes cross if you tried to look too hard. She’d heard nothing from the archer since his last text a little after three in the morning, not that she’d expected it, she never heard anything from either Tony or Thor when they were out on an op, the latter having ridiculous amounts of trouble with cell phones anyway. But, she’d hoped that he would have given her at least a clue about what to expect when she walked into his apartment. What Lucky a big dog? Little? Was he older, a puppy? Long hair, short hair. Would she be able to find his food, dry food, wet food, can he have food from the table? She was absolutely aware of the fact that she was over thinking everything, but she was responsible for keeping this animal alive. 

“Jarvis?” Darcy sighed and leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest.

“Yes, Ms. Lewis,” the AI answered, his voice echoing in the empty hallway. “How can I be of assistance?”

“Clint asked me to look after his dog,” she rolled her eyes, asked at three in the morning after he’d already left. “But he didn’t leave me a key.”

“You have been granted access to Agent Barton’s living quarters, Ms. Lewis,” Jarvis told her. “Your thumb print will unlock the door, the same as with your living quarters. I believe that Lucky is very excited to meet you.”

“More like very excited to be let out of the apartment to pee,” Darcy countered.

“That may also be true.” Fucking snarky AI.

Lucky turned out to be a seventy pound golden retriever who couldn’t have been more than a couple years old, filled with crazy energy, possibly due to the fact that he’d been cooped up along in an apartment all night.

She smiled down at the dog, whose entire back end was working back and forth as he stood excitedly in front of her. Darcy held out her hand to sniff and was rewarded with a slobbery kiss straight up her arm. “I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you boy?” she wiped her hand off on her t-shirt, glad she hadn’t gotten dressed for work yet, the dog danced away into the apartment, and Darcy took her first good look around at Clint’s living space.

Clint absolutely had a bachelor pad. The sofa looked like it’d seen better days, probably sometime in the early eighties by the look of the faded fabric and cushions that sagged pathetically. The predictable milk cartons stood in place of end tables and a coffee table, and all three surfaces where covered in magazines. She spotted no fewer than a dozen copies of Archery with a smattering of Playboys and National Geographic tucked in between. She shook her head and chuckled, he was such a boy. On the way to the kitchen she snagged a couple of empty beer bottles and tossed them in the recycle bin. The upside, the apartment wasn’t actually dirty; there were no dishes in the sink, and his shoes where on the mat by the door, he was just untidy.

“Jarvis, when was the last time a maid ran a vacuum through here?” she asked, pulling Lucky’s bag of food out of the pantry and dumping some in his bowl. The carpet in the living room had a very distinctive golden sheen that she was positive wasn’t the original color.

“No one is permitted into Agent Barton’s living quarters with the exception of yourself, Agent Romanoff and young Ms. Lewis,” the AI told her. She was positive she could hear a note of resignation in his tone.

“So never?” Darcy rolled her eyes, watching Lucky all but inhale his food. “If he thinks I’m doing any cleaning he’s got another thing coming.”

“I do not believe that Agent Barton expects you to clean his quarters,” Jarvis said helpfully. “He has on the other hand left some instructions in regards to the dog.”

“Send them to my phone J-man,” she flicked through the magazines on the milk crate coffee table while waiting for Lucky to finish. The couch was deceptively comfortable, despite its appearance.

Darcy: You need a maid.

She thumbed through an old Playboy and waited. Lucky snuffled up, jumping onto the couch and cuddling into her side. The dog needed a bath, too.

“I bet you’re ready for a walk,” she scratched the dogs behind the ears, his tale thumped on the couch, his whole body wiggling in excitement. “Any idea where Hawk boy keeps your leash?”

Clint: Yeah, sorry wasn’t expecting company.

Darcy: No problem, but I’m taking Lucky back to my place. I can’t handle the mess, and Hannah doesn’t need to see your dirty magazines.

Clint: I’ll put them up when I get home. Thanks again for watching him. I’ll try to call later tonight, I’d love to say goodnight to Hannah.

Darcy: We’ll be waiting. PS I’m borrowing one of your magazines.

Clint: Which one, no don’t tell me, I have to go shoot things and I don’t need to be distracted.

Darcy threw her head back and laughed. She snapped a pic of the National Geographic she was stealing and sent it off, sliding the magazine in her bag.

*****

Hannah loved Lucky, but then what four year old wouldn’t? He was furry and friendly, and lavished affection on anyone who sat still long enough to take it. Darcy knew that five years previous she would have been just as inclined to roll around on the floor with the dog as her daughter was, instead, she was pulling long golden hairs out of the lint trap of her new dryer and throwing the constantly wiggling dog, dirty looks that bounced off of him without him even noticing.

The little girl and the dog snuggled on the sofa, the later occasionally bathing her daughter’s face in saliva, throwing her into a fit of giggles. Darcy untangled a mass of yellow fur from the lint trap and dumped it into the garbage bin next to the washer in her tiny laundry room. Baron owed her big time. Lucky was completely untrained, he grabbed things off the counter, stole her shoes, and sloshed his water bowl all over the kitchen. After three days, Darcy had given up keeping the over grown fluff ball out of her room at night, because if she shut him out, he’d just paw at the door and whine until she let him in. Her beautiful Egyptian cotton sheets, a gift she’d given to herself when Jane announced their move to Stark Industries, now smelled like wet dog. Darcy stole Clint’s Playboys and hid them after Lucky ate her favorite pair of converse. At least he hadn’t eaten her Louboutin’s.

In the end, Clint was gone for five days. And as much as she liked getting to see her daughter play with Lucky, and as reluctantly as she had grown attached to the yellow fuzz bucket, it was five days too long. He texted her at half past eleven, her eyes bleary from lack of sleep and the fact that Lucky had accidently crunched her glasses that morning. She squinted at the text for a full minute before the black blurs resolved themselves into words.

Clint: Quinjets landed. Do you want me to pick up Lucky?

Darcy: Jarvis will let you in.

Darcy dropped the phone back on the night stand and curled back up under the covers, Lucky’s warm weight pressing into her side. As much of a pain in the ass the dog was, he was a spectacular cuddler. She drifted off in her warm cocoon, not hearing the door open or Clint’s shuffling gate as he maneuvered through her living room.

“Darcy?” he whispered, shaking her shoulders gently. She just flapped her hand in his direction and turned over, her face buried in Lucky’s side. “Darling, I can’t take Lucky if you don’t let him go.” He shook her again and this time was rewarded by her sleepily blinking eyes.

“He ate my shoes,” she mumbled, slowly rolling out of bed and taking a good look at the archer. “Jesus, have you been to medical yet?” Clint’s uniform was torn down one side, an angry looking gash running down his ribs and a dark bruise stained the side of his neck and shoulder. His nose had clearly been broken and field set, the black and blue spilling down his cheeks.

“No need, sweetheart,” Clint rubbed the back of his neck and hobbled around the bed to grab the dogs color. Darcy noticed his half hidden wince as he bent over.

She slipped out of bed and maneuvered him back to her side of the bed, gently pushing him down onto the mattress and swinging his legs up. “Stay there.”

“If you wanted to get me into bed,” the archer folded his hands in his lap and watched her pull off his boots and dump them on the floor. “All you had to do was ask.”

“Shut up, Hawk,” Darcy turned and marched out of the bedroom to grab ice. “You’re a father now,” she pressed the ice pack to his face. “Either you act like it, or I’m going to make you. You have to take care of yourself, that means when you’re hurt, you go to medical or you let me dress your wounds, because whoever did it sucks.”

“Natasha,” he smirked.

“Whatever,” she poked at his leg feeling the blood wet on her fingers through the fabric of his pants. “Shirt off.”

“Yes ma’am,” he gave her a salute, she glared. “Sorry, it’s automatic.” She bent down and pulled the first aid kit out from under her bed, hauling the giant think up onto the bed by his feet. 

“Thor’s a big baby about going to medical, too. For that matter, so is Tony, but he’s Pepper’s problem. Thor’s mine when Jane’s in SCIENCE mode.” She told him as he raised his brow. “I thought I told you to take your shirt off.” Clint sat up and pulled the zipper of his tactical shirt down, stripping off the stiff fabric. Darcy looked at his side, and tilted her head for a moment. “Pants too, soldier boy.”

“Aw, Darce,” Clint looked down at the buckle of his belt and back up at the fearsome woman clad only in a Batman t-shirt and rainbow boy shorts, her hair disheveled from sleep, with her fists jammed into her hips. This was the woman he’d thought about on those long nights stuck in his nest in New Mexico babysitting Shield scientists, hoping against hope that she’d call. The woman who now was the mother of his child. “But, I’m all bloody.”

“Trust me, I can handle a little blood, chop chop,” Darcy reached over to help things along, but he batted her hands away. “I’ve seen the show already, pants off so I can get a look at your leg.” Clint huffed and shimmied out of his pants.

“I’m leaving the boxers on,” he scowled at the bloody gash on his leg that was still oozing. “I’m getting blood on your sheets.”

“I’m a girl, Clint,” she shrugged. “I know how to get blood out of sheets. “No more arguments,” she pushed him onto his side and ran a hand over the gash on his side, at some point someone, Natasha, had super glued the two sides together messily, leaving holes where it had only just started to scab a bit. “You know, Dr. Cho has her portable Cradle upstairs.”

“It’s not that bad, babe,” he relaxed under her touch, slowly drifting off as she cleaned and dressed his wounds. He briefly opened his eye and let her pour water and Tylenol with codeine down his throat. “You’re a good mom, Darce.”

“Thanks, hawk boy,” Darcy ran her fingers through his hair sending him back into dream land. She watched him for a moment, trying to decide what to do, before climbing into bed on the other side of Lucky and curling up under the heavy comforter, letting the warm weight of it lull her into sleep again. She had the distant thought that Hannah would be bouncing into her room at six am, cause it was Sunday and that meant cartoons and pancakes, but she was really too tired to worry about that with the cuddly dog, and Clint’s soft snoring pulling her into deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a donation in the box below. Comments, suggestions, whatever...


	7. Blueberry Pancakes and Cuddles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the eariler than normal chapter. I'm currently at home with Pink Eye, yep, it sucks, but at least I don't actually feel bad. So today I had some extra time to sit in front of my computer and hash out the chapter, with soundtrack and everything. I always write better with music, and don't usually get that luxury.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 7: Blueberry Pancakes and Cuddles

The first thing Darcy noticed was that she wasn’t alone, and the warmth pressing into her back was not furry. She reached up and rubbed at her eyes, the blurry room resolving into the warm glow of morning light filtering through her bedroom curtains, and the buzz of the television in the living room. She shifted slightly, the warm arms around her waist tightening as her bedmate rubbed his face into her back, letting out a low moan that sounded only mildly pained.

“Aww, morning, no,” Clint grumbled, his fingers finding their way under the hem of her sleep shirt that had very obviously worked its way up through the night. “So warm.” He sighed and pushed his face back into the space between her shoulder blades, snoring lightly.

Darcy huffed, resigned not to move, not wanting to hurt the archer who was wrapped around her. She’d seen the extent of his injuries the night before, and knew that jostling him would just reopen the long gash along his ribs that was being held together by gauze, tape and a prayer.

“Mommy,” Hannah’s face peered around the doorjamb, Lucky hot on her heals, panting lightly as the girl dug her fingers into his fur. “Are you and Daddy up yet?” Darcy moaned. Of course Hannah’d seen them; she would have been in bright and early to wake her up, looking for pancakes and Lucky.

“Daddy’s still sleeping, baby,” Darcy whispered to her daughter, hoping against hope that her little girl would be satisfied with that, and go back to her cartoons, so she could wake her bedmate carefully and out of the prying eyes of their daughter, especially considering his state of undress, and the very obvious state that his boxers where barely containing, and was currently pressed tightly against her ass.

“Okay,” the girl agreed amicably. “Can we have breakfast soon? Lucky really wants blueberry pancakes.”

“Sure,” Darcy chuckled, the dog wanted pancakes, of course. “Let me get daddy up and I’ll make Lucky some pancakes.”

“Me too,” Hannah pouted.

“You too, baby girl,” Darcy agreed. “Take Lucky back into the living room, we’ll be there soon.”

“Okay, mommy,” the girl gripped the dogs collier and pulled him out of the doorway. “Come on, Lucky. Mommy’s gotta wake up daddy. Tommy says sometimes that takes a while.” Darcy groaned. Fucking Tommy and his stupid parents. Hannah needed to make new friends, STAT.

Once the girl and the dog were audibly back in the living room, Hannah happily explaining her favorite show to the dog, Darcy carefully reached under the covers, that she was forever grateful to still have around her, and started to pry Clint’s fingers from around her stomach.

“Clint,” she said as loudly as she comfortably could, without drawing her daughter back into her doorway. She should have told the girl to shut the door. “Clint, dude, you gotta let go.”

“Don’t wanna,” he mumbled, lacing his fingers tightly around her again, moving them dangerously higher under her shirt. “Warm.”

“I know you’re comfortable, hawk boy, but we got a little girl in the next room who wants pancakes,” Darcy cajoled, wiggling very carefully to get his fingers to release.

“Little girl?” the archer murmured, his fingers finally letting go of each other, only to wonder over the flesh of Darcy’s torso. “Just you and me, baby.”

“Clint Barton,” Darcy grabbed his hands and pushed them away. “Wake up this instant.”

“What?” Clint’s eyes snapped open, and he pulled back from her like he’s been burned. “Aww, Darcy, sorry babe.”

“No worries,” she shimmied her shirt down under the covers, pushing it down until it covered all the essential bits. 

“Did Hannah see us,” he sat up in bed, instantly regretting the quick movement. “Aww fuck, I think I’m bleeding again.”

Darcy pushed the covers down, forgetting both of their states of undress as soon as he sounded like he was in pain. “I’d say you did,” her fingers ghosted down his ribs along the gash that was weeping blood. She tugged at her sheets and pushed a wadded bit against the gash, and pushed his hand up to hold it. “I’ll get some new dressings for that.”

“Hannah saw us, didn’t she?” he asked again, as Darcy bent over to get the first aid kit again.

“Yep,” she dropped the kit on the bed and pulled out a new pad of gauze and tape. “She’s in the living room explaining to Lucky how sometimes when Tommy’s mommy wakes up his daddy, it takes some time, and breakfast is late.”

“Our daughter needs new friends,” Clint groaned.

“Upside,” Darcy pulled the old dressing off the wound, gently cleaning the area before taping the new dressing in place. “Tommy is now an entire ocean away.”

“Remind me why she spent so much time with these people?” the archer raised a brow as Darcy pulled his leg out from under the covers, completely ignoring his muffled protest.

“Clint, I’ve seen the show,” she reminded him. “And you had your dick shoved up against my ass five minutes ago, get over it.” He just huffed; sure that he had turned a lovely shade of purple. “She stayed with her friend when I was at school and Jane was doing work. They lived in our building, and both parents are respectable pediatric doctors.”

“That apparently have a very healthy sex life,” Clint muttered, hissing slightly as Darcy probed the cut on his leg. “Fuck, Darce, that hurt.”

“You have a bullet wound, of course it hurts,” Darcy batted his hands away and used a cotton ball to swab the wound before redressing it.

“It’s just a graze,” he argued, ducking his head at her heated glare. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“No worries,” she checked over the rest of his, making sure that she’d covered every wound that needed covering. “How’s the nose feel?”

“Broken, but it’s not the first time,” Clint shrugged. “Can I put clothes on now?”

“Do you have any that aren’t covered in blood?” Darcy countered, looking at the pile of his tactical uniform that sat sadly in the corner of her room.

“I wasn’t planning on staying,” he told her, trying to pull himself off the bed. The second day of any injury was always worse, and letting his muscles tighten overnight made everything ache.

“Get in the shower, I’ll get Hannah and Lucky situated with breakfast,” she pulled out a pair of oversized sweatpants and a Culver t-shirt and tossed them at the archer. “Then we get to explain to our daughter that you’re not moving in.”

“Fuck,” he dragged himself into the bathroom and closed the door.

*****

Sunday mornings in the Lewis household meant pancakes and cartoons. It was a tradition that Darcy had started long before Hannah could even eat the pancakes, when Darcy would make them for herself and Jane in order to coax the scientist out of the lab at least one morning a week.

In the living room, Hannah was curled up on the couch with Lucky, her head pillowed in the dog’s side, as her new favorite cartoon was playing on the TV. It hadn’t been one of Darcy’s favorite choices that her daughter had made originally, the British cartoon initially annoying her, but she’d grown fond of the little girl and her adventures with her pet duck, even the poorly drawn cartoon characters had started to find their way into her heart the more she watched it.

“What are Sarah and Duck doing today, little one?” Darcy carded her fingers through her daughter’s messy blonde hair.

“They’re going to the Big Shop, Mommy,” the little girl turned over and smiled at her mother. “Is daddy up?”

“Yeah,” Darcy watched at the little cartoon girl and her pet met with an older woman, affectionately called Scarf Lady. “He’s in the shower.”

“Is he staying?” Hannah asked, watching as her mother smiled and walked into the kitchen.

“Just for breakfast, sweetheart,” Darcy told her daughter, who looked disappointed. “Maybe for some Sarah and Duck, if you ask nicely.”

“But you and daddy were cuddling this morning,” the girl looked lost, her face peering at her mother over the back of the couch as the older woman pulled out the ingredients for pancakes. “Just like Tommy’s mommy and daddy do in the morning.”

Darcy had the distinct urge to beat her head against the counter. Letting the archer stay the night before had been stupid, but he’d been hurt and she wanted to be able to keep an eye on him, incase his injuries had been worse than he’d let on. Which had been a high possibility. “Baby,” she looked down into the mixing bowl, like she might find some help inside the dark blue plastic depths. “Your daddy and I, we aren’t like Tommy’s parents.” She sighed and ran her hands through her messy curls, for the first time realizing how disheveled she must look. “Tommy’s parents were together a long time before Tommy was born, you know your daddy and I weren’t like that.”

“I know,” Hannah said quietly, her pout breaking Darcy’s heart. “I just want you to be, cause then daddy would be here all the time, and you wouldn’t worry so much when he had to go away.”

Darcy looked at her daughter, shocked. “What do you mean, baby?”

“You were all worried this week,” the little girl shrugged. “You got mad at Lucky cause he ate your shoes, and grumbled at his hair all over the place, but you weren’t really mad at Lucky.” Her daughter was far too insightful for her own good. “You were worried about daddy.”

“Hannah, sweetheart,” she huffed and dusted her hands off, coming around the kitchen counter, dropping onto the sofa with her daughter. “No matter what, when your daddy goes out with Uncle Thor and Uncle Tony, I’m going to worry. I worry about Uncle Thor and Uncle Tony, too.” She pulled her little girl up into her lap, and let Hannah snuggle down into her embrace. “What they do is very dangerous, and I will always worry that something will happen to them. I worry about your dad because he’s your dad, no matter if he lives here with us or he lives in his own place.”

“But you wouldn’t worry so much if you could see him,” Hannah argued. 

“I don’t think that’s true, baby,” Darcy set her head against the crown of her daughter’s hair. “But, that doesn’t matter, because your daddy doesn’t live here, he lives upstairs with Lucky.”

“I don’t like that he doesn’t live here, mommy,” her daughter told her. “I want daddy and Lucky here.”

“I know,” she rubbed her cheek into her daughter’s hair, snuggling down with her, the dog wiggling around until his head was situated in Hannah’s lap, his tail working back and forth across the couch cushions. “But that’s not how it is.”

“Maybe someday, right?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t know if that’s in the cards, baby,” Darcy told her. “Your daddy and I are just getting to know each other as friends, I don’t know if there’s going to be more than that, or if he want there to be.”

“He does,” her daughter said, completely sure. “I saw how happy he was this morning, he had a big smile on his face while you were sleeping, you did too, mommy.”

Darcy just chuckled. “Do you want pancakes or not?”

“Yes, please,” Hannah jumped out of her mom’s lap and settled back down with the dog. “Lucky wants blueberries, and I want chocolate chips.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Darcy hummed as she made her way back to the kitchen, not seeing Clint watching from the bedroom door.

Clint waited until Hannah had re-immersed herself in the cartoon before he slipped into the kitchen, wrapping his arms loosely around Darcy, giving her every chance to pull away. “I wouldn’t be opposed.”

Darcy squeaked and turned in his arms. “Sneak,” she accused.

“I’m a spy, babe, and you weren’t exactly quiet,” he smirked.

“I don’t want to get her hopes up,” Darcy shook her head. “I don’t want her to think that Mommy and Daddy are going to be like her friends parents, just for us to fall apart when the new wears off.”

“So,” Clint shrugged. “We go slow, don’t do anything in front of Hannah, but I’d like to see if we could be us, and not just co-parents.”

“Very slow,” she told him, not moving away from his embrace as he pulled her to his chest. “Like glacier slow, I’m talking Ice Age, baby.”

“I can handle that,” he pressed a chaste kiss against the corner of her mouth. “Can I have chocolate chip pancakes, too? And what the hell is our daughter watching?”

Darcy threw her head back and laughed. “It’s called Sarah and Duck; it’s really cute once you get into it.”

“It looks like Hannah drew it herself,” he huffed, dropping a kiss on her forehead and releasing her.

“Chocolate chip pancakes coming up,” she pushed him out of the kitchen. “Go watch TV with the kid.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Clint threw her a jaunty salute.

“No more sleepovers, Hawk boy,” she told him as he lingered in the kitchen. “We can’t do that again.”  
“Cuddle?” he tipped his head.

“Let Hannah catch us,” Darcy shook her head. “Not til we’re one hundred percent sure about what’s going on.”

“Deal,” the archer nodded. “You sure this show is for real? I mean, there’s a Moon that paints.”

“I promise, it’s really very cute,” she chuckled. “Go play with the kid, or there won’t be any pancakes.” Clint held his hand over his chest in mock horror. “Go,” she shooed him away, he grinned and rounded the corner into the living room, dropping down onto the couch, pulling their daughter up into his lap. She watched for a moment, her little girl curling up into her father’s chest, giggling at something that was happening on the TV. Darcy turned back to the kitchen and turned on the griddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Sarah and Duck is a real show. My kid is obsessed. We watch it on Netflix almost daily.
> 
> Anyone curious about the soundtrack I use to write this piece, don't hesitate to ask. Please leave your inquires in the comments below.


	8. Welcome to the Jungle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this ended up being longer than I intended, but to be fair, this entire story is ending up to be much longer than I first thought it would be. It was supposed to be a cute quick fic about Darcy having Clint's baby, and it's sort of morphed. Oh well.
> 
> Enjoy!!

Handle With Care

Chapter 8: Welcome to the Jungle

Darcy rinsed off her plate and left it in the sink, Sundays were absolutely her favorite day of the week. She looked over the kitchen island into the living room where her daughter and her daughter’s father, her boyfriend, not really clear where they stood at that exact moment, but even just thinking daughter’s father, was exhausting; were resituated on the couch after filling themselves with far too many carbs. Darcy was fairly swimming in coffee consumption as she dropped a kiss on her daughter’s sleep tangled hair.

“You kids have fun,” she ruffled Clint’s hair as he flicked through Netflix’s offerings, apparently done with Sarah and Duck for the time being.

“Will do, mommy,” Hannah snuggled down against Lucky, who for all the world looked completely blissed out on love and pancakes. Darcy smiled and let the door latch shut after her, twisting the nob on the shower to hot and checking the temperature.

“You alright, darling,” Clint hung in the doorway, watching Darcy putter around the bathroom.

“Fine,” she gave him a bright smile as she dumped his ruined uniform into the hamper to try and figure out later, did Jarvis deal with that kind of thing, or was there a secret dressmaker in the building that fixed and remade the Avenger’s uniforms, she shrugged and left it.

“Fine?” he asked, his eyes searching her face for any ounce of doubt.

“Fine,” Darcy screwed up her face as he continued to watch her with a worried look on his face.

“Fine?” he asked again, his arms slowly uncrossing and fidgeting with the string to his borrowed sweatpants.

“Yes, fine,” she pulled him fully into the bathroom, where she was sure Hannah couldn’t see them, and ran her hands down his arms, clasping their hands briefly tighter. “Either pick a new word or get out of the bathroom,” she smiled at him as he fidgeted under her gaze. “I’m not showering with you in here.”

“It’s just,” Clint took her hand and played with her fingers, looking for the right way to explain himself. “I haven’t,” he sighed. Words sucked, he was so much better at action. “I’ve only had relationships with two kinds of women,” he started again. “Those that are part of SHIELD and know what I do, and those that aren’t, and I gotta lie to most of the time.”

“We’re in a relationship?” Darcy teased, looping her arms around his neck. “Most guys ask first.”

“Darcy,” he huffed, letting her pull him against her and setting his hands on her hips. “Would you consent to try this thing out between us?”

“I was teasing you, Hawk,” she nipped at his chin and laughed at his eye roll.

“My point,” Clint looked over the top of her head, seeing them curled together in the bathroom mirror, his fingers pulling the back of her shirt up enough to see swirling lines of a tattoo over the swell of her left hip. “Is that you’re kind of neither.”

“True,” Darcy consented, feeling his fingertips trace the lines on her back.

“You just patched me up and turned over and went to sleep,” his fingers wondered up her back, trying to get a good look at the whole design.

“Clint,” she batted his hands away and looked at him. “I’m a mom, not to mention friends with Thor and Tony, this,” she gestured to the bandages hidden under his borrowed clothes. “Isn’t new. Does it upset me to see you hurt? Of course it does, but that’s not going to change whether or not were fucking, it’s part of the gig, and I’m kinda stuck with you.”

“There’s gonna be fucking?” Clint’s eyes gleamed with potential.

“Not today, hot shot,” she smirked.

“Oh,” he only looked mildly disappointed, which earned him brownie points. Darcy’d said slow, and he was letting her dictate what that meant.

“I figured you were ambulatory,” Darcy turned her back to him and checked the water temperature again. “You walked your happy ass down here to get your dog,” she wiped her hand off on a towel. “You were probably gonna live.”

“True,” Clint drew out the word, waiting for the other shoe to drop, there was always another shoe. He wasn’t that lucky.

“Now,” she laced her fingers through his spiky blond hair, feeling how wonderfully soft it was. “I really need to get into the shower, even with Stark’s wonderful everlasting hot water, if we keep standing here, its gonna run out.” He dipped his head down to capture her lips, soft and gentle under his. For a moment, she was back in the alley in New Mexico, wanting nothing more than to feel his weight against her body. “Go watch TV with Hannah,” she pushed him reluctantly away, wishing they didn’t need to take it slow. “Make more coffee.”

“Sure thing,” he stole one last kiss. “So you’re fine?”

“Leave,” Darcy giggled as she pushed him out the door, locking it behind him.

“You gonna tell me what your tattoo says,” he called through the door.

“Play your cards right, Hawk Boy,” she leaned against the door, going over all the reasons it was a bad idea to just pull him into the shower with her. “And I might just let you see for yourself.”

“This isn’t slow, Darce,” Clint said quietly.

Darcy banged her head against the wall a few times. “I know,” she ran her hands down her face. “I’m sorry.”

“S’okay,” she could almost feel him leaning against the other side of the wall. “Just nice to know you’re as affected by me as I am by you.”

“Not even an issue,” Darcy sighed, laying her face against the cool tile in the steamy bathroom. “But with Hannah.”

“Yeah, we’ll go slow,” Clint rapt his knuckles on the door.

“Gotta make sure we last,” she pushed off the all. “I don’t wanna be those bitter ex’s sniping at each other through our kid,” Clint pulled the door open and grabbed her hand.

“I got a bitter ex,” he laced his hands through hers. “I suck at this talking thing, and according to her, I’m rubbish at relationships, but I don’t think that will be our problem.”

“God,” Darcy grumbled as she dropped her head on his shoulder. “We’re gonna be like Tommy’s parents, aren’t we?”

“Only if we’re very, very lucky,” he kissed the top of her head, and finally left her to take her shower.

*****

Hannah clutched both parents’ hands as they approached Preston Academy on her first day of school.

“I’m scared, Mama,” the little girl whispered as the looming Gothic structure cast its long shadow over them.

“It’s going to be okay, niblet,” Darcy crouched on the sidewalk in front of her little girl, pulling her tiny uniform shirt straight. Cursing whatever moron decided to put pre-kindergarteners into school uniforms. “You’re going to have so much fun today, meet all kinds of new friends.”

“I miss Tommy,” the little girl whispered. Darcy heard Clint mutter something under his breath that sounded distinctly like ‘Fucking Tommy.’

“I know, baby,” she ran her fingers over her daughter’s dirty blonde hair, tucking stray strands behind her ears. “But you’ll make new friends in no time.”

“Will you and daddy pick me up?” Hannah clutched at her father’s hand, not willing to let go of him just yet.

“We’ll be here with bells on, darling,” Clint laid a gentle kiss on his daughter’s head and helped Darcy to her feet, tucking her under his arm. “You ready for this little momma?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Darcy tucked her thumb into one of Clint’s belt loops and nodded. “Ahead full.”

*****

While the outside of the building was Gothic and intimidated, the pre-k classroom was bright and full of color. Hannah dropped her father’s hand at the sight of thousands of crayons spilling over a table top with sheets of white paper just waiting for her latest master piece. She quickly joined her classmates at the table without a backwards glance.

“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Lewis,” a sunny haired young woman held out her hand to them. “I’ll be Hannah’s teacher, Ms. Hart.”

“Good to meet you, Ms. Hart,” Darcy took the woman’s hand. “I’m Darcy and this is Clint.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Ms. Hart grinned. “It’s so wonderful that you both took the time to drop off Hannah, it’s so rare here at Preston.”

“That’s too bad,” Darcy linked her fingers with Clint’s. “Speaking of, we should probably go while Hannah’s happy.”

“Oh, of course,” the teacher walked them to the classroom door. “Again, it was nice to meet you.”

They both waved at the teacher and made their way back through the school. “Well,” Clint whispered to Darcy as her heels clicked noisily on the marble floor. “That was certainly different from our trip to the principal’s office.”

“I did notice how you didn’t correct her when she called you Mr. Lewis,” she jabbed him lightly in the ribs, not letting go of his hand.

“Ow,” he rubbed his free hand over where she’d poked. “I’m fragile, Lewis.”

“Bullshit,” she coughed into her hand. “And you’re deflecting.”

“No reason to call negative attention to Hannah,” he shrugged. “So we’re not married, should reflect on how Hannah’s teacher looks at her.”

“You just didn’t want the evil eye form the pretty teacher,” Darcy smirked as his ears turned pink. “No worries.”

“Aw, Darcy. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Clint’s shoulders slumped.

“Relax, Hawkman,” she squeezed his fingers. “I’m just teasing.”

“I’m sorry,” he told his shoes as she continued to pull him down the hall.

“For what? Looking at Hannah’s teacher?” Darcy laughed, her cheery voice echoing through the marble hallway. “Dude, she thinks you’re married to me, plus I’ve seen your porn collection.”

“Bobbi would have had my head if she caught me looking,” Clint eyed her. “And you got rid of my porn.”

“No,” she corrected. “I’m holding it hostage until you replace the chucks your dog ate.”

“I can have it back?” he stopped dead in the middle of the hall, not noticing the Headmaster eyeing his two least favorite parents. “You’re just going to give me my skin mags back? What’s the catch?”

“You have to replace my chucks,” Darcy repeated slowly. Clint continued to look at her like she was a puzzle and he didn’t have all the pieces. “Clint, I know what’s real and what isn’t, if you wanna look at glossy, fake naked women,” she shrugged. “I really don’t care, long as you’re not touching on other women outside of what’s required by your job, you and I are solid.”

“I need more coffee for this conversation,” he pulled her towards the school doors.

“Yeah, plus El Heffe is giving us even stinker stink eye than usual,” Darcy giggled as Clint face palmed, his ears bright pink.

“Fuck me,” he mumbled.

“You are free to do as you wish once you get home,” Darcy sang as she pushed the door open and danced into the looming shadow of the building.

******

Hannah swirled the bright yellow crayon around in the corner of her drawing.

“Is that your family??” a girl with dark hair looked over at Hannah’s paper.

“Yeah,” Hannah put the yellow crayon back and dusted off her hands. “That’s mommy and daddy, and Lucky,” she pointed to each little figure in turn.

“You have a dog, that’s so cool,” the girl grinned, one of her front teeth missing. “I’m Lily.”

“Hannah. No, daddy has a dog,” Hannah shrugged. “He stays with me and mommy when daddy has to go out of town.” Mommy and daddy had sat Hannah down and had a long talk about what she could and couldn’t tell people at school. Rule one was don’t tell anyone Daddy was an Avenger. Rule two was don’t tell what daddy did for a living.

“Your daddy doesn’t live with you?” a boy with his hair pulled back into a low bun and dark skin asked. “Does he have a girlfriend?”

“No, just a Lucky,” she said, picking out a purple crayon to finish her dress. “My daddy just lives in the apartment upstairs.”

“How come he doesn’t live with you?” Lily asked, pulling out a new piece of paper.

“Mommy says that’s just the way we are, and that’s okay,” she carefully colored in her dress and started in on Daddy’s shirt with the same crayon. “He spends lots of time in our apartment, and we have dinner together every night when he’s home.”

“Maybe your mommy doesn’t like daddies,” the boy said, brandishing a red crayon. “Like Sarah’s mommy,” he pointed at a little girl with long pig tails. “She’s got two mommies.”

Hannah tipped her head to the side and looked at Sarah. “I don’t think she’s like Sarah’s mommy,” Hannah concluded. “We lived with Auntie Jane for a long time, and Mommy and Auntie Jane slept in different rooms, not like my friend Tommy’s parents, who always share a room, expect when Tommy’s daddy snores really loud.”

“Maybe she doesn’t really like your daddy anymore,” Lily wondered, looking sad. “My mommy decided she didn’t like my daddy anymore, so he moved away. Now he lives with his secretary.”

“Mommy kisses daddy, so she likes him,” Hannah nodded, filling in daddy’s jeans with a bright blue crayon. “And I don’t think Daddy has a secretary, so he couldn’t live with her.”

“Does she kiss him on the cheek?” the boy asked, systematically coloring his whole sheet of paper red. “Or somewhere else?”

“When Daddy comes to our place, he goes into the kitchen and hugs mommy from the back when she’s cooking, and she kisses him on the chin.” Hannah told her new friends. “He smiles real big when she does that.” She searched through the crayons looking for a not broken black crayon. “And when they’re on the couch watching TV, she cuddles under his arm, kinda like she does with me on weekends when we watch cartoons.”

“I wonder why your daddy doesn’t live with you, then,” the little boy dropped the stump of his red crayon in the pile.

Hannah shrugged. “Mommy says that’s just how our family is and that’s okay.”

*****

Hannah threw herself into her father’s arms as soon as he stepped through the classroom door. “Hey niblet,” Clint hefted her up into his arms, her little legs wrapping around him as best she could. “You have a good day?”

“I made lots of friends,” she beamed, kissing him on the cheek. “Where’s mommy?”

“I’m still outside the door,” Darcy teased, pushing Clint out of the doorway. “Tell me about your friends.”

“Lily lives with just her mommy cause her daddy likes his secretary better, Sarah has two mommies, so they had to find a daddy to help them make a baby, but he’s not really her daddy cause she doesn’t know who he is. Michael lives with his nanny most of the time, and his parents are mean,” the little girl rattled off on her fingers. “Mommy, do you like other mommies better than daddies?”

“I miss Tommy,” Clint whispered into Darcy’s ear.

“Me too,” she chuckled. “No baby. I like your daddy just fine.”

“Daddy doesn’t have a secretary, right?” Hannah asked. “I didn’t think Avengers had secretaries.”

“No baby,” the archer shifted the little girl in his arms. “You and your mommy are the only girls for me.

“And Aunt Nat,” Hannah added.

“And Aunt Nat,” Clint conceded.

“Oh, sweet Hawkeye,” Darcy kissed his chin, marveling at the goofy grin on his face. “Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a quick thought in the box below, let me know what you're thinking.


	9. Desperately Wanting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a day late, which means I've given you an extra long chapter for your patience.
> 
> We're skipping some time, mostly because I didn't want to dwell on boring bits while we watched Clint and Darcy dance around each other and move at some super slow pace that they were enforcing on themselves. So, here were are a few months later.
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 9: Desperately Wanting

Darcy slowly spun her wine glass between her fingers, listening closely to see if Hannah had finally fallen asleep, over the sound of the TV, quietly playing Once Upon a Time in the background. She was more than ready for a little alone time with her beau out of the prying eyes of their daughter.

“Do you feel like we’re sneaking around?” Clint asked, nuzzling his face into her hair. “I feel like a teen sneaking a girl back to my trailer, accept I’m already in your apartment.”

“Your trailer,” Darcy snickered, tipping her head back to lie against his shoulder.

“Yes, I lived in a trailer while I was in the circus,” he nipped at her neck, causing her to giggle. “I recall an old Airstream when we were in New Mexico.”

“It wasn’t even a real Airstream, it was some off brand knock off,” she smiled. “Mom worked late when I was a teen, I never had to worry about sneaking boys into my room, and we could have all the shenanigans in the living room if we wanted.”

“Bring a lot of boys home, Darce?” he wound his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him chest.

“Let’s just say,” she dropped her empty glass on the coffee table before lacing her fingers over his on her stomach. “It’s a good thing you’re an Avenger, cause we’re gonna be chasing boys off with a stick when our little trouble maker gets older.”

“But, back to my original question,” Clint held her close, loving the relaxed content feeling he got in his gut when they were together. Just the scent of her perfume, though she insisted she didn’t wear any, made him feel lighter. “I feel like we’re sneaking around.”

“From Hannah?” Darcy turned in his arms, kneeling on the couch between his legs, her hands in her lap. “Or from like the Team, cause Thor and Jane know, and I’m completely sure that Nat knows, she keeps winking at me.”

“No, from Hannah,” he sighed, taking her hands between his. “We’ve been trying this out for a couple of months, it’s good, I like us, but.”

“You think it’s time to tell our daughter,” Darcy finished, taking a deep breath. “Or you’re tired of this glacial pace we’re taking.”

“We need to tell Hannah,” Clint sighed.

“Okay,” she agreed, the glacial pace was killing her too, but she was glad that wasn’t the breaking point.

“Really?” he brightened, Darcy could almost see his little tail wagging like the giant puppy he was most of the time. “Does that mean we can stop going so very slow, too?”

“Really,” she smiled a slightly wicked look in her eyes. “How not slow are we talking?”

“Darce,” Clint pulled her to him, tipping them back on the couch so she lay over him, her hips cradled between his thighs. “I wanna touch you.”

“You touch me all the time, Mr. Barton,” she teased, pleased to feel him hard and ready trapped between them.

“I wanna get a good look at that tattoo you’ve been teasing me with,” he pulled her up his chest and captured her lips between his. “I don’t want to go home at the end of the night to a cold shower and a smelly dog.”

“You’ll still be going home to a smelly dog,” Darcy nipped his lips. “And if you gave him a bath he wouldn’t be so smelly.”

“Darcy,” Clint all but whined as he arched himself against her belly, tired of the verbal gymnastics she was doing.

“We can pick up the pace,” she grinned, sliding back to her knees between his legs and reaching for the button on his jeans. “Let’s see if I can release some tension.”

“Wait,” he pulled her hands away from his pants. “We got new rules, I wanna be clear.”

“And Bobbi said you sucked at this part,” Darcy sat back trying for a serious look.

“Can we not talk about my ex-wife right now?” he asked. She mimed zipping her lips.

“Okay,” she nodded. “For right now, no intercourse,” she said seriously. “I’m not on the pill, and I wanna talk to Thor first.”

“Okay,” Clint looked skeptical. “You need to talk to Thor before we have sex. Do I want to ask why?”

“Um, well we were really careful last time, right?” Clint just nodded. “And we had sex just the once, so I was a little shocked to find myself pregnant. When Thor came back from space, he heard Jane and I talking about it, why is very not important, suffice it to say, I wasn’t getting any. Anyway, he heard and laughed, saying that his blessing was fruitful indeed. Long story short, Thor’s fertility god powers trump all forms of birth control. You get your boys anywhere near my girls, we might just run the risk of another unplanned pregnancy,” she shrugged. “I love Hannah and I’m beyond happy that I had her, don’t get me wrong, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me, but I’m not ready for another niblet just yet.”

“Would you want another, someday?” their conversation had taken a very serious turn, drowning the lust under its weight.

“Yeah,” Darcy folded her legs and looked at him. “One day, preferably at a planned time, when we aren’t living in two apartments, and we’re more settled.”

“You would consider having another kid with me?” Clint asked in nearly a whisper.

“Well, the first one turned out pretty great,” she took his hand and dragged him to her. “One day, if you want, we could have another one.”

Clint grinned and pulled her into a fierce kiss. “Oh god, Darcy,” he fisted his hands into her hair. “I love you. I absolutely don’t deserve you, but I love you.”

“Oh,” Darcy’s hands froze on his hips. “I love you too, hawk,” she just looked at him, her fingers dipping into the waistband of his pants, his muscles clenching under her hands, his fingers almost too tight in her hair. “Pants off.”

“This is very not slow,” he pulled his hands out of her hair. “I thought you said.”

“I said no intercourse,” she popped the button on his jeans. “There are lots of other things we can do.”

“Maybe retire to the bedroom?” Clint pulled her off the couch by one hand. “You know, in case we get an unintended audience.”

“Good plan,” Darcy pushed him down onto the bed and turned to lock the door. “I thought I said pants off.” She smirked as she heard him pull down the zipper and kick off the jeans before she turned back.

“Bossy,” he grinned, standing half naked in her bedroom while she drank him in, her gaze traveling from his feet only to stop at the hem of his shirt, licking her lips obscenely.

“Shirt too,” she slipped her hands up under his shirt, pressing her fully clothed body against his. Clint pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. “Mm, very nice,” her hands wondered down his chest lightly scratching her nails over his nipples, pulling a moan from his lips. “Shh,” she pushed him back to sit on the edge of the bed and knelt before him. “I don’t want any interruptions,” she winked up at him, her tongue snaking out to lick around the head of his penis. She watched his eyes flutter as she repeated the action, before taking the tip into her mouth and sucking gently.

“Quiet as a church mouse,” Clint groaned, watching as she slowly sank her lips down over him, her fingers taking over when she couldn’t take him any deeper. “Oh, yeah,” he dropped back onto his elbows as she pushed his legs further apart to give herself more room, gently rolling his balls in her other hand. He finally lost the fight with gravity, and dropped all the way down onto the bed, fisting his hands in her hair, the gentle pull causing her to hum in pleasure, sending delicious vibrations through him. Darcy hollowed out her cheeks and increased her pace as he started to lightly thrust into her mouth. “Baby,” his back arched, trying not to push too hard. “I’m gonna come soon.”

“You’re not gonna hurt me,” she looked up at him, her fingers taking over for her lips.

“You sure,” his hips worked against her hands.

“Let go,” Darcy took him back into her mouth as his fingers tightened in her hair, thrusting just a little harder into her mouth, then a little harder when she didn’t protest. She hummed continuously as he took over, fucking her face, her one hand at the base of his cock so he didn’t go too far. His back arched and a long low groan escaped through his lips as he held her still and came in bursts down her throat. Clint untangled his fingers from her hair and let his arms fall limp onto the bed.

“I need you to get undressed now, Darcy girl,” he didn’t move, his voice like molasses. “Take your clothes off and get on the bed, face the headboard.”

“You don’t have to,” she used the bottom of her t-shirt to wipe off her face.

“Darcy,” his voice was firm, even if he still hadn’t moved it held an air of authority. “Take off your clothes and get on the bed.” Clint was rewarded with a semi-damp t-shirt to the face. He felt the bed dip above him. Slowly he rolled over to see his beautifully bare girlfriend, long curls spilling down her back, head bowed and legs gently spread. He crawled up behind her, fitting his body along her back. “Thank you,” he whispered into her hair, cupping her heavy breasts in his hands.

“You don’t have to thank me,” she tipped her head back against his shoulder as he peppered her shoulders with kisses. “I enjoyed myself.”

“Really,” he grinned against her skin.

“Oh yeah,” Darcy guided one of his hands away from her chest and down between her thighs. “A lot,” she rubbed his fingers along her slit.

“It’s my turn,” Clint bit down on the join of her neck, causing her to groan and push into his fingers. “Hands on the headboard, legs further apart.” His fingers danced between her legs, spreading the moisture up and around her clit, rubbing circled around the hard nub. “This all for me, baby?” she nodded, arching into his hand, looking for more friction. “You got all worked up getting me off?” he pushed two fingers inside her, the fit tight despite how wet she was, pressing the heel of his hand against her clit.

“I liked it,” Darcy panted, gripping the headboard with white knuckles. “It’s been so long,” she whined as he pulled at her nipple. “Too long since I’ve touched someone.”

“Really,” his fingers slipped out of her to circle her clit. “How long since someone’s touched you like this?” he rolled two fingers over her clit, pulling a whining moan from her throat. 

“God Clint,” Darcy pushed in to his fingers. “Five years, you were the last person to touch me.” Clint went still against her back for a long moment before flipping her over onto her back.

“Fuck, Darcy,” he looked down at her, her hair wild around her head, eyes dark with lust. He ran his hand down her body and leaned in to take one of her nipples into his mouth. “I’m not bitching about a little frustration ever again.” He kissed his way down her body.

“My choice, Hawk,” she smiled down as his head slipped between her thighs, his tongue running over her dripping slit. “But don’t you dare stop.” His fingers slipped back into her as he worked her clit, slowly fucking into her crooking his fingers forward until she was squirming uncontrollably under him.

“God you’re beautiful,” he dropped kitten licks over her clit as he watched her thrash.

“Please,” Darcy whined, pulling at his hair. “Please, please.” Clint sucked her clit into his mouth, working her into silence, slipping a third finger into her. She stiffened, the stretch pushing her over the edge, her orgasm crashed over her with a soundless cry.

*****

Darcy dozed lightly, the feeling of Clint’s fingers slowly tracing along the loops and whirls of her tattoo, the callused pads of his fingertips moving deliciously along her skin, lulling her into half sleep. “To hold infinity in the palm of your hand,” Clint’s voice was thick with contentment. “And eternity in an hour,” his hand spanned across her back, warm and heavy. “You didn’t have this before.”

“No,” she turned just enough to see him propped up on one arm, still unabashedly bare. “I got it after Hannah was born,” she pillowed her head against her arm and smiled. “The first time I held her,” she closed her eyes, letting that feeling wash over her. “That’s how it felt to me, like I was holding infinite possibilities, all of the future in that exact moment.” Clint pulled her against him, needing her close right then. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” he nudged her hair away from her shoulder, kissing along the exposed skin.

“You should have been there, been able to feel that, too,” Darcy laced her fingers through his, reluctant to let the moment end.

“I’ll get other things,” he tightened his hold. “I got to take her to her first day of school, I’ll be there for her last, and one day, if I’m very lucky, I’ll get to walk that little girl down the aisle.”

“I love you,” she sighed.

“Love you, too,” Clint let go and rolled off the bed. “I should go.”

“Yeah,” Darcy watched him gather his clothes, knowing how sad she sounded.

“You know I want to stay, right?” he pulled on his jeans without his boxers, tossing them in the hamper.

“I know,” she snatched his shirt from him and brought it to her face, taking a deep breath of his musky warm scent before pulling it over her head. It fell down over her hips and snug across her chest.

“Now, what am I gonna wear home?” Clint arched a brow and watched her look him up and down, cocking her brow back in response. “I can’t walk back to my place like this.”

“Not with your fly unzipped,” Darcy flopped back on the bed. “You’re absolutely right. You can walk upstairs shirtless.”

“Aw, zipper, no,” his shoulders slumped. “You sure I can’t just stay here? We can set an alarm, I’ll get up really early, Hannah will never know.”

“Good night, Hawk,” she tipped her face up for a kiss.

“Night, babe,” he smiled down at her. “My shirt looks good on you.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Darcy giggled as he stole another kiss. “Now you better run if you don’t want to be caught naked in the hall. You could make poor Stevie blush.”

“Mean,” Clint smiled and blew her a kiss as he slipped out the door. “We should go out,” he said, sticking his head back in the room.

“We have a parent teacher conference tomorrow night,” she said, pulling a book off the night stand.

“Dinner, a date, babe,” he said. “I wanna take you out on a date.”

“We’re doing this so backwards,” she dropped the book onto the bed in her lap.

“It’s our way,” Clint leaned on the open door frame, watching as she slipped her glasses on and wound her hair up into a knot, her book laying open in her lap. “We’ll talk to Hannah tomorrow, but I want a real date.”

“I’ll ask Jane and Thor to babysit Friday,” Darcy shrugged. “They can keep our little bug overnight, I’ll talk to Thor first, get us an all clear for shenanigans.”

“Yes,” he nodded. “I want shenanigans,” he snatched his shoes off the floor of the living room and jogged back to the door. “Not that tonight wasn’t great.”

“Get out of here, Hawkboy,” she waved him off.

“I love you, good night,” and he was gone. Ten minutes later her phone dinged with a new text.

Clint: I made Steve blush so hard. Never zipped my fly, stupid brain.

Darcy: Pictures or it didn’t happen.

*****

Hannah fidgeted on the couch, her little hands tucked under her thighs as she watched her parents having a silent conversation. “Am I in trouble?” she asked, trying with all her might to hold still under her parents serious faces.

“No, sweetheart,” Clint put his arm around Darcy, both sharing a small smile. “You know how you ask a lot of questions about your mom and me, and how we aren’t like your friends parents?”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she looked down at her knees, peaking out under her itchy plaid skirt. “Ms. Hart said that all families are different and I can’t make you be like Tommy’s parents, you have to be like my parents.”

“No Hannah,” Darcy took her little girl’s hands, dropping onto her knees in front of the couch. “It’s okay, we aren’t like Tommy’s parents, but we are going to be going through some changes as a family.”

“Did daddy find a secretary?”

“No,” Clint’s eyes went a little wide. “What your mom and I are trying to tell you is,” he looked at Darcy, trying to figure out how to explain dating to a four year old. “We are going to start taking mommy and daddy time.” Darcy raised a brow and Clint shrugged. “Sometimes you’ll stay with Aunt Jane or Aunt Nat while your mom and I do things together.”

“Are you going to come and live in mommy’s room?” Hannah looked hopeful.

“Not right now, but maybe someday,” he told her, his hands on Darcy’s shoulders.

“Okay,” Hannah looked between her parents. “Do you need mommy and daddy time now?”

“It’s time for dinner, niblet,” Darcy let Clint help her off the floor. “Then you’re going to Aunt Nat’s for a movie while Dad and I talk to your teacher.”

“Oh yeah,” she jumped off the couch. “Can I sleep at Aunt Nat’s tonight? She always makes me strawberry waffles in the morning and gets up early with me to watch Sarah and Duck.”

“We can ask,” Clint winked at Darcy as she laughed, disappearing into the kitchen. “But you know the rules.”

“Don’t pester Aunt Nat,” Hannah said very seriously. “She doesn’t like it and she hides daddy’s arrows when she’s angry.”

“So,” he plopped down on the couch and thumbed on the TV. “What are we watching today?”

“Brave, please,” she curled up under her dad’s arm and grinned at him. “When I’m big, will you teach me how to use a bow?”

“Just try and stop me, princess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a little token in the box below.


	10. School's Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I had every intention of having it out by Wednesday of last week, and then I came home to a sick kid, and then we had an ice storm, and I pulled my back, and real life sucks some times. Anyway, here it is.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 10: School’s Out

Hannah curled her feet under herself as she carefully accepted the small tumbler of apple juice with two small round ice cubes from her Aunt Nat. Her father’s best friend was her favorite babysitter cause she let Hannah eat and drink in her fancy living room, and never got mad when she accidently dropped something on the soft gray couch. Plus, she had the best stories about Daddy, and never skipped the parts that Mommy said would be too scary, even if sometimes they were.

“Dorogyay,” Nat slipped onto the couch next to her niece, tucking her feet under her, just like the little girl sitting next to her, and took a sip of her not apple juice. “It’s starting to get a little late, don’t you think.” 

Aunt Nat also never said anything about it being bedtime, or asks if she was sleepy, like Uncle Tony did, she always made it Hannah’s choice. The girl looked down at her nearly empty glass, the round cubes rolling around at the bottom of the fancy glass cup that Aunt Nat had deemed hers and hers alone. She put the glass down carefully on the glass topped table next to the couch and rubbed her eyes. “Can we finish Brave, first?”

“Absolutely,” Natasha nodded and tipped back her own glass, a mirror of Hannah’s, draining the last of the liquid. “Then maybe I can tell you about the time your daddy and I went to Hungary, and we can go to sleep.”

“Can I stay in your room, Aunt Nat?” the little girl tucked herself under her aunt’s arm, blinking up at her with her ocean blue eyes.

“You don’t like the guest bedroom?” the Russian asked, her fingers curling around the child’s braided blond hair.

“The beds so big,” Hannah shrugged.

“The one in my room is bigger,” Natasha reasoned, letting the ends of the girl’s hair wrap around her fingers.

“I know,” she nodded, her eyes stuck on the television; it was bigger than the one in Mommy’s apartment, but not as big as the one in Daddy’s. Daddy’s apartment was the best place to watch movies, cause he had something called surround sound. Aunt Nat didn’t, but she had special apple juice glasses, and Daddy’s were all plastic, and melty from the dish washer. “But it doesn’t feel as big cause your there.”

“Sure, dorogaya,” her aunt pulled herself off the couch, reminding Hannah of those pretty girls who danced in the ballet, that Mommy had taken her to before they left London. “You finished with your glass?”

“Yes,” Hannah handed her glass back to Aunt Nat carefully. “Mommy doesn’t let me drink out of real glass.”

“She will one day,” the widow slipped into the kitchen, putting both glasses in the dishwasher, and rinsed her hands. “She’s just being cautious.”

“Why?” the girl watched her over the back of the couch, her head tipped to the side and her bottom lip disappearing between her teeth, just like her mom did when she asked a question she already knew the answer to.

“Cause you are your father’s daughter,” Natasha smiled at the girl’s huff. “He might be a wonderful agent, and an excellent archer.”

“World’s Greatest Marksman,” Hannah supplied.

“So he says,” the older woman chuckled. “But he can also trip over thin air like no one I’ve ever seen.”

“He gets excited,” the girl shrugged. “Mommy makes him forget his feet. At least that’s what Uncle Tony says.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Natasha shook her head and folded herself back up on the couch, glancing at the DVD player, gauging how much longer the movie was going to run. “But, your Uncle Tony’s right.”

“Mommy says not to tell him that,” Hannah told her aunt, casting her eyes to the corners of the room. “And that the walls have ears.”

“Only Jarvis,” she watched as the girl stifled a yawn, her hands covering her little face. “And Jarvis and I have an agreement,” she winked at the little girl, who did her best to wink back. “Come on, Brave will keep until tomorrow.”

“Okay, Aunt Nat,” Hannah slid off the couch and tucked her hand into Natasha’s, letting the older woman lead her out of the living room.

“Brush teeth, then I’ll tell you about,” Natasha didn’t even get a chance to finish.

“Budapest,” she giggled. “Daddy said it was a secret that he won’t even tell Mommy.”

“I’ll leave out the secret parts,” the spy winked, and swatted her niece on the behind, pushing her towards the bath room. “No stinky breath in bed.”

“Got it,” the girl disappeared in to the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind herself. Natasha listened for a moment, making sure that Hannah wasn’t going to need any help, before pulling out her sleep clothes, an old pair of athletic shorts, and one of Clint’s old Shield t-shirts that came down to her knees.

*****

Preston Academy was much more intimidating at night, if that was even possible. Darcy laced her fingers tightly through Clint’s, and looked up at the looming stone edifice.

“So,” the archer said, taking stock of the sidewalk around them, casting his eyes into the deepest shadows, while his girlfriend stared at the gargoyles looking down at them. “We should probably go in.”

“Yeah,” Darcy didn’t take her eyes off the stone creatures. “You ever get the impression that they’re looking at you?”

“Only every time we walk Hannah to school,” Clint nodded, pulling gently at their entangled hands. “It’s less scary inside.”

“Unless El Heffe’s watching,” she shuddered; the Head Master made her uncomfortable, mostly because his disapproving glare had not abated in the three month’s that Hannah had been at school, if anything, it had grown in its clear disapproval.

“Yeah,” he pulled her through the heavy wooden doors and into the marble hallway. “You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to school, but I seem to remember battered linoleum and bad art projects, not marble and artfully carved hardwood.”

“Rich people, man,” Darcy shrugged. “My high school had dented lockers from the seventies, and mismatched flooring. And every desk had gum stuck under it. Oxford looked a lot like this.”

“God, I forget you’re like crazy smart,” Clint wrapped his arm around her and walked down to the pre-k classroom. 

“Tony’s crazy smart,” she leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and letting him guide her. “I’m just smartish.”

“Right,” he kissed the crown of her head, stopping them outside Hannah’s classroom, seeing the number of parents already seated in the tiny plastic chairs. “What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”

“African or European,” she answered automatically, the edges of her lips turning up. “You’re an ass.”

“What, it’s a legitimate physics question,” Clint grinned.

“It’s Monty Python,” Darcy gave him a mild glare and kissed his chin, looking through the door. The one way glass meant that they could see in, and the occupants of the room couldn’t see out, so she had a moment to assess the people inside. It was mostly mother’s, though there were a few fathers. Other than what she assumed where Sarah’s moms, it didn’t look like any of the parents where actually there together. “You ready for this?”

“Not even a little bit,” he squeezed their interlocked fingers. “Let’s do this.”

“Together, or not at all,” she took a deep breath and opened the door, instantly feeling every single eye turning to them.

“Ah, Ms. Lewis, Mr. Barton,” Ms. Hart said, the way she emphasized mister, made the hair on the back of Clint’s neck raise. “You seem to be the last ones to arrive,” the teacher looked them up and down, the friendly look from Hannah’s first day conspicuously absent. Suddenly their casual jeans and t-shirts made them both feel terribly exposed. Darcy noticed that every parent that was seated in the ridiculously tiny plastic chairs were all dressed in business attire; probably most of them came right from work.

“It’s nice to be here, Ms. Hart,” Clint gave the teacher a tight smile, and put his hand on the small of Darcy’s back leading her to the only empty table in the room and pulling out her tiny chair, and helped her down into it. “Sorry we’re a little late, we had to drop Hannah off at her aunt’s, and it took a little longer than anticipated.” Mostly because he and Nat had a silent conversation for nearly ten minutes after Hannah had asked to spend the night, and then proceeded to tell her aunt that Mommy and Daddy had decided that they were going to be taking Mommy Daddy time after all, and Hannah suggested they do it tonight, cause she was going to be at Aunt Nat’s anyway, and it would be so much fun to have a sleep over. Nat had tucked condoms in his pocket on the way out. They missed the elevator twice because Darcy was laughing so hard she couldn’t stand up.

“As you say,” the teacher side eyed them, and turned back to the board.

*****

“El Heffe got to the teacher,” Clint whispered in Darcy’s ear, as they sat in the hall as Ms. Hart talked to each parent one on one about their child.

“She was a little cold,” Darcy shrugged. “Hannah likes her, so I’m not going to poke at it.”

“She looked at me like I might bite her the entire time we were in there,” he told her. “And every time you scooted up to me she flinched. What the hell could El Heffe have told her that would make her do that?” Darcy shrugged again. “How much longer do we have to sit here?”

“She’s going in alphabetical order,” his girlfriend looked down the line of parents, each zoned out on their various devices. “So, not too much longer, I mean Lewis is pretty solidly in the middle of the alphabet.”

“She just called in Mrs. Martin,” Clint grumbled, dropping his face into his hands. “She’s skipped us.”

“Oh,” Darcy counted the parents. “Then probably another hour or so.”

“Fuck me,” he groused, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes. “You know the number of things we could be doing with a child free evening tonight?”

“Less that if I’d been able to pin down Thor today,” she grinned, her fingers walking over his jean clad thigh slowly.

“You are aware that there are other people here, aren’t’ you Ms. Lewis,” the man sitting next to them asked, sniffing in their general direction, without actually looking up from his oversized iPhone. 

“Sorry, um, Mr.?” Darcy let it hang there, waiting for the man to fill in her blank.

“Zumbold,” he sniffed again. “I am Lily’s father. My little girl has talked at length about your daughter’s pride in your unusual family situation.”

“Lily?” Clint whispered to his girlfriend, searching back to remember if Hannah had talked about the girl.

“The reason Hannah is constantly insisting to her Uncle Tony that Avenger’s shouldn’t have secretaries,” Darcy whispered back.

“Right,” he nodded. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Zumbold,” Clint leaned around Darcy to hold his hand out to the other man, who shook the archer’s hand for the shortest amount of time possible.

“Yes, I suppose it would be,” Mr. Zumbold looked down at his phone again before looking at the couple next to him. “And what is it that you do for a living, Mr. Barton?”

“I work in security,” Clint told him, refusing to be intimidated into telling the politely glaring man anything else. “And you?”

“Well, of course I am the CEO of Zumbold Industries,” he huffed. “And I really do need to be getting back to work,” he leaned over to look at the closed classroom door. “Lily’s mother really left me in a lurch when she skipped town to check on her mother.”

“Oh, is Lily’s grandmother not doing well?” Darcy asked, concerned for her daughter’s friend. “Hannah says that Lily talks about her a lot.”

“The woman’s been dying for the past two years,” Mr. Zumbold rolled his eyes. “I doubt this time will be any different.”

“Oh,” Clint intensely disliked the man, looking around him as Ms. Hart opened the door and called the next parent, again skipping over himself and Darcy. “Well, I hope she’s okay.”

“She’s eighty five, she’s going to die, if not this trip, then the next one,” the CEO looked back down at his phone typing furiously. “II just wish she’d chose better times to fall so desperately ill, every time she does, I get stuck at one of these things, hours of sitting and listening to inane prattle of one teacher or another, talking about how important it is to do, this or that, and then keep us waiting just to tell us how amazing our child is.”

“Anything for my daughter,” Darcy said through clenched teeth. Clint laced his fingers through hers and squeezed.

“And what do you do, Ms. Lewis?” she could feel his eye roll even if he didn’t look up from his device.

“I run the experimental research and development arm of Stark Industries,” she told him, shrugging her shoulders. “Though mostly I work with Dr. Jane Foster.”

“I see why your daughter’s father has come crawling back to you,” he muttered under his breath. “Securities can’t possibly pay much.”

“More than you’d think,” Darcy laughed at the man’s startled face. “I also have very keen hearing.”

“I apologize,” the CEO frowned.

“No you don’t,” Darcy peered at him as he typed into his phone, obviously talking to someone back at the office, possibly his favorite secretary. “You assume that all Clint cares about is money, because that’s all you care about. That or your referring to my breasts, and that could be the only thing that he could possibly care about.”

“They are pretty nice, babe,” Clint whispered into her ear, earning him an elbow in the ribs.

“I think I’m getting a call,” Mr. Zumbold stood and walked quickly down the hall.

“Only two people in front of us, now,” Darcy leaned back into Clint’s shoulder.

*****

“Please have a seat,” Ms. Hart pointed to two of the plastic children’s chairs, set up in front of her desk, her eyes following them as they sat. “I have a few concerns about Hannah,” she began, pulling out a bright blue folder with Hannah’s name on the front. “While she’s a good student, and seems to be keeping up with the material that we are covering very well, and has an advanced understanding of reading, for a girl her age; I am concerned that she has developed an outrageous imagination, possibly stemming from your unusual living situation.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean,” Clint leaned forward on his knees, feeling Darcy’s fingers light against his spine.

“Hannah tells quite outrageous stories about her family, and the adventures you get up to,” Ms. Hart slid a pair of glasses up her nose and flipped a few pages in the folder. “She told a story about a crazy robot, that her Uncle Tony made, that runs the building you live in and orders your groceries. Another story involved one where her Aunt Jane hit her Uncle Thor, and I’m assuming that’s a nick name, with a truck, and now they’re getting married. Her Aunt Natasha seems to be her favorite, a woman how subdues men with her thighs, and apparently she learned to be so cool from growing up in Russia.”

Clint had to bite his lip to stop from laughing. “Um,” he looked at Darcy, who shrugged. “Those aren’t stories.”

“Right,” Ms. Hart closed the folder. “You’re telling me that you grew up in the circus, and Ms. Lewis has fought alien elves?”

“Yep,” Darcy grinned, nodding her head. “I work with Dr. Jane Foster, Hannah’s Aunt Jane; we were in London when the Dark Elves attacked.”

“That is not in your file,” the teacher flipped through another folder that was out on her desk.

“Probably because most of our paperwork was filled out by Hannah’s Uncle Tony,” Clint grumbled. “That would be Tony Stark.”

“Oh,” the teacher flipped through more quickly. “So.”

“So, all Hannah’s stories are true,” Darcy finished. “She was just told she couldn’t tell anyone what her father really does for a living or mention where we live.”

“So, you’re,” Ms. Hart’s eyes got really big as she looked Clint up and down.

“Hawkeye,” he supplied. “Yeah, I’m an Avenger.”

“Oh,” she nodded her head impulsively, shutting the folder. “Hannah’s an excellent student. I have no concerns about her what so ever,” the teacher stood and held her hand out to Darcy first. “It was lovely that you both took the time out of your undoubtable busy schedules to come and meet with me,” she shook Clint’s hand, her eyes still took big.

“Anything for our daughter,” Clint smiled, and lead Darcy out of the classroom, letting the door shut behind him. “Aunt Nat subdues men with her thighs?”

“Maybe we should talk to Nat about what stories she tells Hannah,” Darcy held her hand over her mouth. “At least she didn’t say anything about her Uncle Bruce who gets big and green when he’s upset.”

“Oh, god,” Clint laughed out loud. “Oh, god, I can’t even.”

“I know,” Darcy pulled him down the hall. “Now, I think it’s time we take advantage of having a child free evening.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will absolutely have Darcy's much anticipated talk with Thor, and more Hannah cuteness, and of course, if all goes well, some Mommy Daddy time.
> 
> Please leave a token in the box below.


	11. Morning Comes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I think I am offically back on my schedule! Have a great weekend, everyone.
> 
> Enjoy!!

Handle With Care

Chapter 11: Morning Comes

Darcy woke slowly, her lover’s arm warm around her middle and the covers heavy and cozy over them. Her eyes blinked slowly, adjusting to the bright morning sun, her brain trying desperately to disentangle itself from the world of dreams and interpret the red and black blur far too close to the end of her nose.

“Morning sunshine,” Natasha purred, a sly smile pulling at the spy’s lips.

“Fucking spies,” Darcy groaned and tried to turn over and ignore the red head, but Clint held her fast in place, arms around her waist and his very naked lower half pushed snuggly against her ass. “Dude, Nat. It’s six am and we’re naked, why are you in my bed?”

“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” the spy rolled onto her back with a smirk, her head pillowed on her arms. “You know, if you let him, Clint’ll hump you in his sleep, well I guess you know.” She winked and went back to looking at the ceiling.

“I’m pretty sure I was enjoying it, until you woke me up,” she grumbled, securing the blanket more firmly over her chest. “Why are you here?”

“Came to see if the coast was clear to bring Hannah home to get ready for school,” Natasha’s eyes swept up and down the two cocooned under the covers like she could see through them. “It’s a good thing I did.” She leaned over Darcy and flicked Clint’s ear. “Wake up, Barton.”

Clint startled awake, jumping unceremoniously out of the bed, catching his foot in the comforter still tucked into the end of the bed and landing ass first on the floor, pulling the blanket off Darcy. “Okay, this looks bad,” he winced up at the women looking over the side of the bed at him.

“Get up and get dressed, Hawk,” Natasha rolled off the bed and onto her feet with all the grace of a hunting tiger. “Your kid’s gonna be up soon,” she looked over at Darcy, who was blinking owlishly at both of them. “Nice boobs little momma,” she winked and walked out.

Darcy’s hands flew up to her chest, trying and failing to cover her exposed skin. “I,” she looked at Clint who was pulling the blanket off the floor and dumping it on the bed. “I locked the door last night when we came in.”

Clint shrugged. “She’s Natasha,” he said, hunting for his other sock, that had somehow found its way to the top of Darcy’s dresser.

“I hate that, that explains everything,” she pulled the blanket up over herself, fully covering her breasts again.

“You know she’s gone,” he raised his brow at her before bending over to pull on his socks, giving Darcy an eyeful of his amazing ass, that she had far too little time to properly appreciate. “You can stop hiding.”

“She saw you humping me in your sleep,” Darcy rolled out of bed and pulled on the shirt that he’s discarded the night before, which had been hanging over the lamp shade. “I’m not sure if I should feel violated or not.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Clint looked around for his shirt, huffing when he realized that his girlfriend was already wearing it. “She likes you, she wouldn’t have crawled into bed if she didn’t, and she certainly not appreciated your very lovely chest.”

“I’m still going with violated,” she closed the bathroom door behind herself.

“If you keep stealing my shirts,” he carefully zipped his jeans tossing her boxers into the hamper. “I won’t have any to wear, myself.”

“They’re comfortable,” Darcy opened the bathroom door, leaning against the jam, toothbrush dangling from her mouth. “Buy more,” she turned back to the sink, scrubbing the toothbrush over her teeth and spitting in the sink. “Plus, I’ve got a collection of your boxers in my dresser; you seem to have no problem leaving those.”

He shrugged. “I’ll meet you at Nat’s to pick up Hannah. Gotta go brush my teeth, too.”

“Just use mine,” Darcy held out the newly rinsed toothbrush. He gave her a skeptical look. “Dude, I had your dick in my mouth less than eight hours ago, you can use my toothbrush.”

“I don’t know if that’s the argument I’d use,” Clint took the brush hesitantly, looking at it liked it might contaminate him.

“Brush your teeth, Hawkass,” she rolled her eye and covered the bristles with tooth paste. “I washed your shirt from the other night,” he sighed and stuck the brush in his mouth, watching his girlfriend bend over the other sink, her bare ass teasing enticingly from below the hem of his shirt as it rode up over her. He groaned, wishing they had just a little more time before they had to pick up their daughter.

“You’re talking to Thor today,” Clint spat out the toothpaste and rinsing the brush before putting it away. “Right?”

“And I’ve got a box of condoms in the night stand, and an appointment in medical to get birth control pills,” Darcy nodded, pulling on a pair of jeans and dumping the Clint’s shirt in the hamper over his boxers.

“I love you,” he wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling into the side of her neck. “God you’re sexy,” Clint duck walked with her as she pulled a bra out of the dresser. “Aw, boobs, no.”

“Gotta get dressed,” she dropped her bra on the bed. “I don’t want Nat coming back and perving on my boobs.”

“Two more minutes of breast time,” Clint snaked his hands up her body, cupping her breasts, his thumb flicking over her nipples, Darcy’s head fell back on his shoulder, groaning. She subtlety pushed her hips back into him, feeling him growing hard through his jeans.

“Fuck,” his fingers pinched and pulled at her nipples as he mouthed at the join of her shoulder, pulling a full body shudder from her. “If you don’t stop, we’ll never leave.”

Clint reluctantly stepped away and sighed, pulling his shirt over his head. “So, there’s this burger joint that Tony swears by,” he pulled his boots on over his socks, tying the laces extra tight. “I thought we could go there Friday, then maybe a movie. Preferably one that’s not animated.” He watched as she smoothed her hair up into a tight pony tail, her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Yes to burgers,” she leaned into the mirror, her eyeliner sweeping across her lid. “Maybe to movie.”

“No movie?” Clint leaned against the dresser and handed her a tube of matte red lipstick. “But it’s a date.”

“We have plenty of time for movies later,” Darcy capped the lipstick and rubbed her lips together. “It’s a kid free evening,” she tucked the tube in the front pocket of her jeans and winked. “I’d much rather let you bend me over the couch and ride me hard.” Clint tripped over the living room rug, going down hard.

*****

Darcy sat on the overstuffed couch in Thor and Jane’s apartment, her hands tucked under her thighs as Thor placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of her.

“To what do I owe the honor of your visit, Darcy?” Thor swallowed the need to call her Lady, a practice he was still not entirely comfortable with or accustomed to.

“So,” she fidgeted, her hands still firmly tucked under herself, not trusting their steadiness with a hot beverage. “You know Clint and I’ve been seeing each other for a while now,” she hedged, biting her bottom lip. “And I really like him,” her sigh was long and hard as she eyed the glorious mug on the coffee table. “Love him in fact.”

“Are you here to announce your betrothal?” Thor bounced to his feet, a wide grin blooming across his face. “That is glorious news my dear sister, Clinton is an honorable warrior, he will make a very suitable husband for you.”

“No, no,” Darcy grabbed her friends arm and pulled him down to the couch. “We aren’t quite there yet.”

“Then what brings you?” his face fell.

“Um,” she looked down at her fingers picking at her nails. “We want,” she rolled her eyes, why could she not get the words out. They wanted to have sex; it was easy, but faced with Thor’s big wide puppy eyes, it felt like when she finally confessed to her mother that she’d lost her virginity. “I just want to make sure that if Clint and I are intimate, we won’t run the risk of um, conceiving again.”

“I assume if you use proper birth control, that would not be a problem,” Thor looked confused.

“But last time,” Darcy waffled her hands around. “You blessed me, and then there was Hannah, proper birth control and all.”

“And a glorious blessing she is,” the god thundered. “She is wonderful, is she not?”

“She’s perfect,” Darcy agreed, risking getting burned just to get a little coffee into her mouth, needing the caffeine, and to wet her dry mouth. “We just aren’t quite ready for another one right now.”

“I suggest using a prophylactic,” Thor stole out of the living room and into the bedroom, leaving Darcy to gape at him. “Here, my Jane enjoys these,” he shoved a handful of ribbed condoms into her hands. “I am sure she won’t mind sharing.” He smiled widely at her.

“So, if we use condoms, we will be okay, cause we totally used condoms last time, too,” Darcy said carefully.

“You have already been blessed, it won’t work again, Lady Darcy,” he reassured her.

*****

Darcy held her phone up to her ear, waiting for the elevator to take her back up to the lab floors. “You owe me so hard right now,” she said as soon as the call connected. “I just finished the most uncomfortable conversation I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

“You done talking to Thor,” Clint huffed over the phone. She could hear the sound of the treadmill and his feet hitting the belt.

“He explained to me how to use a condom,” she hissed into the phone, poking the button on the elevator. “He used a banana and made me show him I was competent before letting me leave.”

There was a clatter, then a muffled thud and what sounded like a cat being strangled, but Darcy suspected that it was just her boyfriend laughing at her.

“You have effectively incapacitated my partner,” Natasha chuckled into the phone. Darcy’s phone chimed and she pulled it from her ear, watching as a picture loaded. Shirtless Clint lay on the floor of the Avenger’s gymnasium, just at the foot of the treadmill, red faced and clutching his stomach.

“Sorry?” she hedged.

“Not at all,” she could hear the spy walking away from Clint. “I haven’t seen him laugh this hard in a very long time.”

“That’s nothing,” Darcy strolled out of the elevator, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder as she searched through her bag for her access card. “Tell him that Thor sent me home with a dozen ribbed condoms, the kind Jane likes best, apparently.” She shuffled her bag over her shoulder again and swiped her card through the reader. “He also promised to take Hannah for a sleep over with him and Jane on Friday.”

“Are a dozen going to be enough,” the Widow said slyly.

“Hannah’s coming back after breakfast on Saturday,” she drawled dropping her card back into her bag and throwing it on her work bench. “If we need more than a dozen condoms, I am in a great deal of trouble.”

“I see,” Natasha chuckled. “I’ll endeavor not to damage him too much before your date. Make sure you stretch first.”

“Can we not talk about this anymore?” Darcy grumbled, not exactly comfortable with the amount of exposer her and Clint’s sex life was getting.

“As you wish,” she said, apparently creeping back to where Clint was still laying, Darcy could hear him still chuckling to himself as he restarted the treadmill. “Starting Monday, you and I will begin training in hand to hand.”

“Okay, I’m back,” Clint chuckled quietly.

“Babe,” Darcy dropped down onto her chair, firing up her computer and looking around the lab for the illusive Jane. “Your best friend is sharing me.”

“Sorry?” he said slowly into the phone.

“Apparently,” she swiveled around, catching sight of Jane, her feet sticking out of the bottom of one of her crazy machines. “The Black Widow and I are going to start training on Monday.”

A sharp bark of laughter came through the phone. “Not a bad idea, actually.”

“I’m rethinking that sex we haven’t had yet,” Darcy growled.

“I will talk to her,” the archer said very soberly.

“I’ll see you for dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised shenanigans in this chapter, but as usual, my characters have a mind of their own. More Hannah next chapter, and of course, the date!
> 
> Please don't forget to let me know how I'm doing!!


	12. Jump into the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there are several things that contributed to the lateness of this chapter. I'll start off by saying I'm so sorry it took so long. I meant to write it two weekends ago, and got hit by crazy writers block, with just no motivation to write anything. Then I got into work last Tuesday and found that a colleague and friend made the decision to end his own life the night before. To say that last week was a dark one would be an understatement. I simply could not find it in myself to write anything, least of all my fluffiest of fluffy stories. This week is starting to look up, and this morning the writing bug bit me again.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this nearly completely plotless, smutty chapter.

Handle With Care

Chapter 12: Jump into the Fire

The burger joint was good, but ultimately forgettable. Dating Clint was different then any other relationship that she’d ever been in, mostly because of the fact that they spent more time together then she’d ever spent with anyone outside of Jane, and they weren’t even living together. Sitting at the restaurant quickly degraded from telling each other about their day, to talking about the cute thing that Hannah had said that morning, one of the few times that Clint wasn’t actually with them, and then talking about her school, and whatever non-classified Avenger thing that the boys and Natasha were dealing with.

“You wanna go get coffee or something?” Clint asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, guiding them both through the streets of New York, and their short walk back to the Tower.

“Kinda looking forward to dessert,” Darcy smiled up at him, giving him a wink that he seemed to have missed.

“There’s an ice cream place just across the street,” he pointed, floundering. She’d said no movie, just dinner then back to her place, so he had nothing else planned, not that dinner in itself was much of a plan to begin with.

“I’m using dessert as a euphemism, dear,” she whispered, trying that wink again. This time he got it. “Take me home, hawk boy.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Clint tipped his head down, catching her lips in a sweet kiss.

“Watch it mister,” Darcy nipped gently at his bottom lip as the light changed and the flow of pedestrians took them across the street, completely trusting him to get them across safely. “That might start something you aren’t prepared for.”

“Like me calling you that, do you?” he teased, pulling her impossibly closer, her head tucked into his chest as he walked them around the crowds of people in front of Avenger Tower, looking to get a good look at one of the illusive Avengers, not even noticing that one was walking right past them. “Got a bit of a dominance streak, do you?”

“Not till you, babe,” she grinned as he groaned low in the back of his throat. “Come on, let’s get home.”

“Your place?” they made it across the lobby without being stopped, the area mostly empty late on a Friday evening. He pushed the button for the elevator.

“It is closer,” Darcy pressed the button for her floor, watching the lobby drop away from the glass sided elevator. “Too bad Tony likes the industrial glass look so much.” She had to shift her focus to the solid floor, watching the marble pattern instead of the quick rush of the retail floors; her vertigo was always a challenge when riding the elevators.

“Jarvis is always watching, Darce,” Clint kissed her forehead and tipped his head back against the glass wall, his girlfriend clutched tightly to his chest. 

They barely made it through the door before Clint was pulling her buttons loose on her shirt, the small pearl buttons defying his fingers as they both stumbled out of their shoes on their quest for the bedroom. He finally pulled her shirt open to reveal a milky white camisole underneath. Darcy flicked open the button on his jeans, while he ran a reverent hand across her exposed skin, pushing the straps of the camisole and bra out of the way to pepper kisses along her clavicle. Clint moved to push them further into the apartment, tripping on his jeans around his knees, taking them both down to the floor, his hands braced behind Darcy’s head as they landed in a heap.

“Fuck,” he dropped his head against her chest, which was heaving with barely contained laughter. “I used to be good at this.”

“Good at what, Hawk?” Darcy chuckled, kicking his jeans free from their tangled legs. “You’re not seducing a girl into your bed, you don’t have to impress me, just get your fucking clothes off, and screw me silly.”

“I wanna impress you, darling,” Clint pushed up on his harms, looking down at her. Darcy’s hair was splayed across the carpet where she’d landed, lips swollen from fervent kisses; her eyes still glass with lust despite their tumble and her current place, squished beneath him on her living room floor. “I wanna sweep you off your feet.”

“Well,” she wiggled her hips, moaning at the hard warmth he created between her legs. “I’m off my feet right now, lover boy.”

“Not what I meant,” he bit playfully at her shoulder. “Come on, up we go,” he pulled them both off the floor, lifting her into his arms.

“You sure this is a good idea,” Darcy looped her arms around his neck, nuzzling her nose up under his ear.

“I will not drop you,” Clint strode through the living room on socked feet and kicked the bedroom door shut behind them. “I can be smooth,” he laid her down on the bed, capturing her lips with his before pulling away.

“You’re done a good job so far,” she hummed, watching him slowly strip out of his dress shirt, dropping it dismissively on the floor, followed by his undershirt. Darcy propped herself up on her elbows, watching as he bent to pull off his socks, the muscles of his arms bunching and stretching under his skin, making her belly warm and tight. She bit her lip as his fingers hooked into the waist band of his boxers, her eyes drifting up from the tented cotton to meet his eyes.

“You know,” his hands dropped from his hips as his gaze traveled over her still mostly clothed form. “I think you might be a little over dressed, my dear,” he gave her a sly wink, grabbing her by the ankle and pulling her bodily down the bed.

“You gonna do something about it, soldier?” she giggled as he pulled her up to stand in front of him, her fingers idly tracing the lines along his stomach.

Clint stole a quick kiss before flopping back on the bed. “Nope,” he grinned at her slight pout. “I wanna watch you.” Darcy raised an eyebrow, locking her eyes with his as she popped the button on her jeans, slowly dragging the zipper down before shimmying the tight denim down her hips. Clint didn’t take his eyes off of her as he pushed his boxers down his thighs, taking himself in hand; hooded eyes watching his girlfriend discard her jeans and slowly pull the camisole up over her head and drop it over the pile of clothes on the floor. “Come here,” his voice dropped an octave, causing her hind brain to sit up and take notice; she was on the bed and straddling her lap before she could even think. Clint pushed the straps of her bra off the shoulders, stripping the cups down until her nipples popped free. Darcy rocked against his, the satin of her panties slipping deliciously over his naked erection. “Still over dressed,” he pulled her forward, flicking the clasp of her bra open and letting the fabric drop between them, as he captured one nipple between his lips.

“Whose fault is that,” Darcy hummed, pressing herself down against him, the wet satin not giving her enough friction. “Baby, I need more.”

“Patience,” he rolled his tongue over her other breast, sucking lightly along the underside. “I wanna enjoy every inch of you first.”

“We got all the time in the world for that,” she pulled her arms free of the bra straps, sitting up to look down at her lover. “Fast now, slow later.”

“Nope,” Clint rolled them over, trapping her under him, kissing slowly down her body, dipping his tongue into her navel, looking up at her. “I’m taking my time.” His hands spanning over her hips and traveling slowly down her legs. “I’m gonna take good care of you,” his tongue dragged down over the satin still covering her, pushing the flat of his tongue over her covered clit, grinning at her low moan.

“I trust you,” Darcy arched into his touch, her fingers buried into his short spiky hair. Clint pulled away just a bit, hooking his fingers into the fabric at the juncture of her thighs, his knuckles brushing against the wet flesh covered there. “But please,” she squirmed into his hands as he pulled them away, dragging the last scrap of clothing down and off her legs, placing a kiss against the inside of each ankle.

“You’re so beautiful,” he leaned forward, capturing her lips with his, his body cradled gently against hers as his tongue swept along the seam of her lips. “And sweet,” his hands skimmed down her body. “And all mine,” he rolled his hips against hers, pulling a long low moan from her lips. “I wanna learn every inch of you.”

“I love you,” she hooked her legs over his hips, enjoying the heavy slide of him between her thighs. “Condoms are in the top drawer.”

“Not just yet,” Clint pushed her legs off his waist and slid down her body, hooking one leg over his shoulder as he pet two fingers over her mound, following with his tongue.

“Please, babe,” Darcy pulled at his hair, torn between pushing his away and pulling him closer. He sucked her slit into his mouth and pushed two fingers into her slick passage. “Don’t stop.”

“That’s what I thought,” he smiled against her skin. “Just tell me what you like.”

“I want more,” she panted, wiggling her hips against him as he slowly rocked his fingers in and out of her, punctuating each movement with slow, luxurious licks from her entrance, before flicking the tip of his tongue over her clit. “Add another finger,” she arched into the stretch as he complied. “Hand, palm up,” she nearly jumped off the bed as the calloused pads of his fingers ran over her g-spot.

“That good?” Clint chuckled, repeating the movement as Darcy thrashed under him. “Need more?”

“Yes, don’t stop,” her body held taunt as she fisted her hands in his hair, almost not caring that she was pulling too hard. Her breath stopped for a moment before her muscles fluttered and clenched around his fingers, pulsing tightly with the beat of her heart. He slowed his movements, his fingers lazily moving between her legs as he pressed kisses over her lower lips and into the hollow of her thighs. “I need you inside me, baby,” her head rolled to the side, reveling in the rush of endorphins still coursing through her body.

“Your wish, is my command,” he pulled his fingers from her body, leaving her feeling empty and open, only to be replaced by the blunt push of his latex covered cock, moments later. Clint dropped his head against her chest as he watching himself disappear into his girlfriend’s body for the first time in five years, the tight wet hear to f her surrounding him. Darcy waited until he’d fully sheathed himself into her, gently bumping her end before she hooked her leg around his thigh and rolled them over, sitting up over him, her hands braced on his chest.

“My turn,” Darcy rolled her hips over him, the new angle pushing the head of his cock firmly against her cervix. Clint grabbed her hips, helping her ride him slowly. She rolled her hips until the head of his cock ran over just the right spot, repeating that movement until her body tensed, her walls fluttered around him. Clint held her firmly the tips of his fingers biting into her hips as he pushed up into her, chasing his own end as she clenched around him.

“See,” he groaned as she collapsed down against his chest, his hands petting up and down her back as they both came down from their orgasms. “Patience can be good.”

“So good,” Darcy rubbed her face against his chest. “I trust you baby,” she slid off of him, nestling into his side. “But sometimes, I do like a quick fuck against the wall.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he dropped a quick kiss against her lips, moving to take care of the condom. “I believe you said something about being bent over the couch.”

“I have very big plans for that couch,” she sighed. “Later.”

“So,” he slid back into bed with her. “Successful first date?”

Darcy pulled him back to her, her hands lacking together at the back of his neck, sliding his lips over hers, tasting herself on his tongue. She groaned at the weight of him settling over her, pushing her down into the mattress. “Best first date ever,” she smiled as his arms circled her waist, his face cradled against her chest. “Sleep, Hawk,” she murmured as her endorphins started to crash and her lids grew heavy. “I wanna do my own exploration later.”

“I look forward to it,” he hummed, rolling them onto their sides, tangling his legs with hers.

*****

Jarvis woke them at half past four in the morning. “Agent Barton,” the crisp voice called through the speakers hidden in the bedroom ceiling. “I do hate to disturb you, but Captain Rogers has issued a call to assemble.”

Clint groaned and turned over, rubbing his hands over his face. “How long do I have?” he rolled onto his feet, pulling a clean pair of boxers out of the top right drawer of Darcy’s dresser.

“The Captain says wheels up in thirty,” Jarvis supplied. “I have taken the liberty of informing Ms. Hannah, she is on her way.”

“Thanks, J,” Darcy buttoned up her boyfriend’s dress shirt, pushing him into the closet where his spare tactical uniform hung, and jogged into the living room to retrieve the clothes they’d left there.

Clint followed her, clasping the last of his buckles. “I’ll call you as soon as I have any information,” he kissed her softly. “And I’ll text you with updates as I can.”

“I know, baby,” she pulled him against her, taking a deep breath, holding in his scent. “Go say good bye to your little girl.”

“I love you,” he told her, his hands bracketing her face.

“I love you, too,” Darcy kissed him, their noses sliding against each other. “Be safe, Hannah and I need you back in as few pieces as possible.”

“I’ll do my best,” he let his forehead rest against hers. “I will always do everything I can to come home to you both.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a few words in the space below. It keeps those writer bugs biting!


	13. There and Back Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm officially back on my update schedule.
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 13: There and Back Again

Jane led a sleepy Hannah through the apartment door, the little girl’s eyelids barely at half-mast as she stumbled in her fuzzy bunny slippers across the floor. Clint knelt on the living room floor, holding out his arms for his little girl to fall into. Darcy hid a smile behind her hand as her boyfriend swept their daughter off the floor, burying his face into her riotous dirty blonde curls.

“I’ll miss you, daddy,” Hannah turned her face into the crook of her father’s neck, rubbing her nose against the exposed skin at his throat, her tiny yawn lost into the Kevlar of his uniform.

“I’ll miss you too, sweetheart,” Clint pushed her dandelion fluff out of his face and behind each of her ears, placing a gentle kiss against the crown of her head.

“Be good,” she murmured and curled her fingers into the neckline of his shirt. “And call Momma so she doesn’t worry too much,” she peeked up at her father, those blue eyes burning into his own grey ones. “She cleans a lot when you’re gone, and Lucky doesn’t like the vacuum.” Clint smiled at Darcy over the top of Hannah’s head, loving the deep blush that stained her cheeks and down her neck, disappearing under the collar of his dress shirt. Darcy just hid her burning face in the palm of one hand; she doubted Lucky had ever encountered a vacuum before he’d spent time in the Lewis household.

“Is that so?” he winked at his bright red girlfriend, he could almost feel her blush working its way down her throat and over the tops of her breasts that were hidden from view.

“She scrubbed the inside of the last time,” Hannah’s little voice pulled him back from his fantasy about his girlfriend’s heated skin. “Uncle Tony kept telling her that it cleaned itself,” she continued, her little fingers exploring the purple seem on his uniform. “That Jarvis would take care of it,” she shrugged, following the purple ridge until it disappeared under his arm. “Mommy called him a bad name and told him to go away.”

“She did?” Clint gasped in mock horror. “For shame.”

“Yeah,” Hannah nodded encouragingly. “She tried to give Lucky a bath, too,” her father chuckled, knowing how much Lucky hated anything involving soap and water. Lucky needed a bath, possibly as much as any dog in history had ever needed one, but getting the old dog into the tub was next to impossible. “But he hid under her bed until she gave up.”

“I see,” Clint held his daughter carefully and slowly pulled Darcy in with his other arm, trapping their little girl between them. “You worry about me, Little Momma?” he asked quietly, his fingers fisting into the curls at the back of her head.

“You know I do, Hawk,” Darcy leaned into his touch, soaking it up the best she could.

“I love you,” he kissed her gently over the top of Hannah’s head, the little girl watching closely as her mother’s face softened. “Both of you.”

“I love you too,” she stole one last quick kiss, then accepted Hannah from him. “Be careful; keep me as up to date as you can.”

“I always do,” he kissed Hannah’s hair and then Darcy’s lips one more time, before he turned to scoop up his go bag and left, not looking back as the door closed behind him.

The kettle whistled loudly from the kitchen, breaking the spell the door had put over her. Jane stood in the half lit kitchen and pulled the squealing tea pot off the stove. “Tea?”

“Yes please,” Darcy put Hannah down on a kitchen stool and pulled three mugs down from the shelf, one of which she filled with hot cocoa mix for her little girl.

“Are we having a slumber party with Aunt Jane now?” Hannah asked, watching as the mugs got filled with hot water, and her momma slowly stirred her cocoa until all the mix disappeared.

“Yep,” her mother answered, dropping tea balls into the mugs and grabbing the honey bear for Jane.

“Can we watch a movie?” the little girl asked, blowing softly across the top of the mug, the warm chocolate scent warming her belly.

“It’s a little late, baby,” Darcy soothed, tucking a tangled piece of hair behind her daughter’s ear, seeing the girl’s eyes start to droop again. It was a good thing; too, she didn’t think she could handle watching Brave one more time. She lived for the moment that Hannah discovered a new movie, but the girl seemed to be stuck on the archery loving princess. Darcy didn’t even bother taking the time to wonder where the little girl got that from, her boyfriend had gifted her with her very own recurve bow for her birthday, and she knew he’d ordered a children’s bow for Hannah for when she got just a little bigger, finished in purple, naturally.

“Okay,” Hannah yawned. “Are we gonna snuggle in your room? She asked, taking a very small sip of her cocoa, deeming it too hot and blowing over it again. “I don’t want to sleep by myself when Daddy’s gone, and Aunt Jane will be lonely in the guestroom without Uncle Thor to snuggle with.”

“I’ll go get fresh sheets,” Jane whispered quietly to Darcy behind her hand as Hannah counted four marshmallows out of the bag the scientist had given her.

“Thank you,” Darcy huffed out a little laugh, not that the sheets necessarily needed to be changed, but she understood Jane’s desire for clean sheets, since her friend knew exactly what she and Clint had been up to that evening.

“You’ve done it for me,” Jane disappeared down the hall to the linen closet.

“That’s so true,” Darcy said to her friend’s retreating back, shuddering a little. Sharing a small apartment with Jane and Thor had been an experience. At least over the years they’d gotten quieter. Mostly after Darcy had a very frank talk with Jane about appropriate noises for small children to be exposed to.

“What’s true, momma?” Hannah asked curiously, her little hands curled around her thick plastic mug, four ridiculously large marshmallows sticking out the top, slowly melting into the hot chocolate.

“That Aunt Jane’s a great aunt,” Darcy puled the tea balls from the mugs and set them in the holder by the sink, smiling at her little girl in her Hulk pajamas, her tiny bunny slippers dangling off her little toes as she swung her feet against the center island.

“You’re right,” Hannah blew over the top of her cocoa. “It’s so true.”

*****

Hannah cuddled under her mother’s arm, wiggling her butt under the blankets until they formed the perfect cocoon around her. Darcy drifted in half sleep, feeling her daughter’s unnatural energy rolling off the little fidgeting creature before the sun rose between the high rises buildings of New York. Jane snored softly, rolled all the way to the other side of the bed, barely clinging to the edge of the mattress.

“Momma?” Hannah asked softly, her face snuggled against the side of Darcy’s chest.

“Yeah, baby girl?” her fingers dug into her daughter’s curls, her eyes still firmly closed.

“Daddy gave you a very nice kiss,” the little girl hummed, clearly pleased. She was right, Clint had given her a very nice kiss, and lots more, but her daughter didn’t need to know that. “I think he wants to marry you.”

Darcy held back a bout of choked, startled laughter, resisting the urge to open her eyes and look at Hannah. “What gave your that idea?”

“He loves you,” Hannah said without hesitation, ticking off reasons on her fingers the way her teacher always did when someone asked a question that Hannah thought was obvious. “He gets this funny look on his face when he looks at you, like you’ve just promised to make him chocolate chip pancakes every day forever,” she ticked off another finger, even though her mommy’s eyes were still shut. Mommy didn’t like to be fully awake until there was coffee, and no one had made any yet, and the coffee maker wasn’t set to start until seven thirty. “And my friend Lily at school said that’s what happens when a boy loves a girl a whole lot, and I know daddy loves you best.”

“Oh really,” Darcy cuddled her little girl in her arms, letting that fly away hair tickle her nose. “Is that what happens when a boy loves a girl?”

“Yep,” Hannah nodded. “First he tells her how much he loves her,” she started ticking things off her other hand this time. “Like Daddy did just before he left,” her momma chuckled, tucking her against all the softest parts of her, her chin cradled against the crown of Hannah’s head. “Then he buys a special ring and takes her out to a nice dinner with dress up clothes and everything.”  
“Is that so,” Darcy asked again, letting her little girl know she was paying good attention to her little lesson.

“It is so,” the little girl said with great conviction. “And the boy gets down on the floor, which I think is really weird, but that’s what boys are supposed to do,” Hannah looked down at her fingers and counted, giving up when she realized that she didn’t know what number she was on. “Then he asks if she’ll put up with his yucky boy ways forever and ever.”

“You’ve got quite a lot of ideas about how it’s supposed to be, little one,” Jane mumbled from where she was curled up.

“It’s what Lily says,” Hannah countered.

“Isn’t Lily’s dad living with his secretary?” Jane asked, rolling over to join in the conversation now that she was awake.

“I don’t think Mr. Diddling his secretary was the one to tell Lily about how to properly propose,” Darcy chuckled as Jane wiped sleep from her eyes, winking at her best friend.

“I think Lily’s Daddy’s name is Mr. Zumbold, momma,” Hannah corrected, happily snuggled up between her mother and her aunt.

“I know baby girl, your daddy and I met him at parent teacher night,” she soothed her hand through her daughter’s hair, tucking her back into the covers between her and Jane. “What happens after she says she’ll put up with him forever?” she prompted, hoping that Hannah would forget the particularly charming name she’d given her daughter’s friends father, preferably before the little girl could repeat the nickname to said friend.

“She buys a pretty dress,” Hannah yawned and rubbed her face into Darcy’s arm sleepily. “And they go to church, and after that they live in one apartment, though sometimes they do that first,” Hannah amended, giving her mother a significant look. “I’d be okay if daddy lived in our apartment before you went to church, or even before he bought you’re a special ring.”

“Noted,” Darcy chuckled.

“And then she has a baby. Am I getting a little sister?” the little girl asked, not noticing the look that passed between her aunt and mother. Jane’s eyebrows raised and Darcy gave a small shake of her head.

“Not yet, niblet,” she told her daughter.

“But someday?” Hannah pressed.

“Your daddy hasn’t bought a special ring yet,” Darcy reasoned, laughing gently. “So, I think you’re a little ahead of yourself.”

“Okay,” Hannah’s eyes slipped closed. “But when he gets you a special ring, can I have a little sister?” she yawned and snuggled down further. “I don’t want a brother, I’ve already got a Lucky, and Sarah says boys are messy and smelly.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Darcy eyed Jane over her daughter’s head, who looked like she was hold in a fit of giggles by shear will, and the pressure of her hand against her face. “Get some sleep, Hannah bear.”

“Okay, momma,” she dropped off almost instantly, her tiny body relaxing into the pillows between the two friends.

“Oh honey,” Jane giggled as quietly as she could. “You are so screwed, that girl has the rest of your live planned, and she intends to marry you off to her daddy. You’ve been Parent Trapped.”

“Honestly,” Darcy let her eyes slip closed, the warm weight of her daughter in the curl of her arms pulling her into dream land. “It’s not as scary as I thought the idea of forever would be.”

“You deserve it,” was the last thing she heard her friend say, before Morpheus pulled her under, before the chirp of her phone pulled her from the warm depths of slumber hours later.

*****

Clint lay nearly motionless under the Cradle, watching the rest of his team mill around the lab on the top floor of Avenger Tower. He eyed his phone, waiting patiently for Darcy to respond to his text. The beams of light that radiated from the Cradle worked over his naked torso, sealing the wound down the side of his ribs, the pain all but gone under the power of morphine.

“Your own girlfriend won’t even be able to tell the difference,” Dr. Cho said, as she fiddled with the setting on the arm of the Cradle, adjusting something or other.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Natasha handed him something that looked like pureed seaweed, but he knew better then to reject anything the Widow handed him post mission, especially when he’d gotten hurt. “Darcy’s pretty perceptive.”

“It’ll be completely indistinguishable from your own skin,” the doctor countered, ignoring the Widow’s huff of laughter. “The Cradle uses your own DNA to heal your body.”

“Darcy’ll know,” Natasha agreed, checking Clint’s phone for him without him having to ask. “Plus, she’s on her way up here,” she flashed the screen at him.

“She’s gonna kick my ass for getting shot,” he mumbled into the straw of the seaweed drink he was trying to force down his throat. It tasted like week old garbage, but he knew he had to finish it, no matter how hard it was to choke down. He noticed that everyone else in the room had a cup in there hand too, none of them looked happy about it.

“Took you long enough, Hawk,” Darcy leaned in the doorway, looking him up and down. “Nice nipples.”

“Thanks, baby,” he winked and took a long pull at his drink and winced at the taste. “Gods that’s nasty.”

“What are you drinking?” she took the cup from him and pulled the lid off, sniffing it and making a face. “It smells like regurgitated grass clippings.”

“Kale,” Natasha said, slurping the last of the nasty green stuff from the bottom of her cup. “It’s good for you.”

“If you don’t choke on it trying to get it down,” Darcy dumped the cup in the nearest trash can. “I’ll get you real food when we get home.”

Clint just looked between his girlfriend and his best friend, waiting for the Widow to say something. Natasha just shrugged and dropped her empty cup in the trash and leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over her chest.

“If Clint doesn’t have to finish his,” Tony looked from the cup to the garbage and over to Natasha. “Does that mean I can stop drinking this shit, too?”

“Not a chance,” the Widow raised a brow at the remaining Avengers, who renewed their slurping immediately.

“She likes you best,” Steve grumbled around his straw, giving Darcy the dirtiest look he could conjure under Natasha’s watchful eye.

“It’s the boobs,” Darcy winked, popping her hip against the table Clint was laying on, her boyfriend’s hand drifting slowly up and down her side where he could reach. “I’ve got awesome boobs.” Steve turned bright red and sucked harder on his straw, looking down at his boots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a small donation in the box below.


	14. Never Let Tony Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Sorry for the long delay on this chapter, I've been immersed in my novel, and kinda let time get away from myself. Plus side, I've finished the first draft, so it'll be a little while before I get to going through and editing, down side, I'm totally behind on my fanfiction.  
> Okay, so we delve into Ultron starting now.  
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 14: Never Let Tony Play

Clint slid down off the table, accepting a t-shirt from his girlfriend, pulling it on over his head. His hand grazed over the new patch of skin, expecting it to be sensitive, but he almost couldn’t feel his own fingertips. “I done here?” he looked from Steve to Tony and then over to Dr. Cho.

“Yeah,” Steve clapped him on the back a little too hard, the wound might have been closed, but Clint was still feeling a bit wobbly from blood loss. “We’ll see you both tonight for the party.”

“Party?” Darcy asked as she laced her fingers though her boyfriends, letting him lean just a little into her and taking in the deep leather and gun smoke scent that covered over the stench of dried sweat. She didn’t care one bit, he was home and whole, and that was all that mattered, plus she really wanted to take a look at his new skin up close and personal as soon as possible.

“Tony’s throwing a party,” she could practically feel the eye roll in Natasha’s voice. “Any excuse.”

“It classified or just a general Avengers are awesome party?” she smirked at Natasha. Tony could come up with any excuse to throw a party, she was particularly fond of his ‘Its Tuesday,’ parties. “But I’m invited, right?”

“Of course you’re invited, malyshka,” the red head dropped a kiss on the top of Darcy’s head as she passed. “Who else would keep our Hawk in line?”

“Hey,” Clint squawked indignantly.

“You and I both know, unsupervised you drink too much and play stupid pranks, not to mention the time you got lost in the vents, and we had to send one of Tony’s bots to find you,” Natasha sashayed down the hall, disappearing around the corner.

“I hate that she’s right,” he mumbled, curling his arms around Darcy, tucking her head under his chin. The tension in his shoulders loosened minutely as her arms wrapped around his waist, snuggling into his hold as they waited for the elevator.

“So,” Darcy pulled him through the door of her apartment by the front of his shirt and pushed him back up against the closed door, her hands going for the front of his tactical pants. “We gonna test out that new skin or what?” she made quick work of the buttons as he stood there.

“Sure, babe,” Darcy’s hands stilled on his hips and she looked up at her boyfriend, his head tilted back against the door, arms limp at his sides.

“Or not,” she watched his blank face, eyes looking off into the middle distance. Gently she took him by the hand and led him over to the couch, curling up next to him, his hand in her lap between both of hers. “You wanna talk about it?”

“Just feeling a bit off,” Clint hedged, turning his face away. “You know, got shot, blood loss.”

“Don’t make me call bullshit, Barton,” Darcy said quietly, running her fingers over his palm and wrist. “No secrets, we promised.”

“We did,” Clint took a long breath, pulling Darcy up into his arms so she sat across his lap. “So,” he rubbed his face into her hair, pulling the warm lavender and vanilla scent from her curls. “We found Loki’s scepter,” he let the sentence hang; just having the words out of his mouth unknotted some deep seated tension. “Tony’s got it in his lab.”

“Oh,” she petted down his arms, trying to push as much comfort as she could through each touch. Part of no secrets meant that he told her about every moment from his time with Loki, it had taken weeks for him to get it all out, but in the end, Darcy had listened and held him, and then let it be in the past, where he wanted it to be. “I don’t even know what to say, I’m sorry? Good for you guys? Yay, it’s not in Hydra’s hands anymore?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” her fingers walked down his arms, softly petting. “I’m just a little,” the soft ministrations helped calm the storm brewing inside him, but it was still there. “I just,” words failed and Darcy kissed his lips gently and pulled him up off the couch.

“How about a hot shower and some nice snuggles?” Darcy led him into the bathroom and started the shower, testing the temperature. “You want me to stay or go?”

“Stay?” Clint looked so lost from where he stood just in front of the still open bathroom door.

“Anything you need, babe,” she smiled softly and let her jeans drop to the floor. The little smile he gave her as she dropped the rest of her clothes was worth everything.

*****

Darcy fidgeted with her skirt, the black A-line stopped inches above her knees and felt strange after living in jeans nearly constantly, but the way Clint had watched her as she walked through the living room in her lipstick red high heels, her skirt swirling around her legs, almost made up for the discomfort.

“You look beautiful,” Clint whispered in her ear, his hands snaking around her hips to rest on her stomach.

“You’re sweet, babe,” she leaned back into him. “You’re not so bad yourself.” He kissed the patch of skin just below her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

“Thank you,” his fingers tightened minutely. “And for this morning.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” Darcy tipped her head back on his shoulder, wrapping her arms over his and holding on. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“You shouldn’t have to pick up the pieces that Loki left,” Clint looked down at the floor, dropping a kiss on her mostly bare shoulder. “I should have handled it better.”

“You handled it just fine, Hawk. I’m here for you,” she hit the stop button on the elevator and turned to look at him. “That’s part of the package, Clint. Whatever you do through, I go through, that’s how it works, you need something, you let me know. Just like if I need you.”

“Bobbi,” he let his head fall back against the glass as Darcy crossed her arms under her bust. “She wasn’t so good when I,” he growled and pushed off the wall, pacing in the confines of the elevator. “She wasn’t a comforter; missions went wrong, people died, bad days happened, they weren’t shared, none of it. She’d tell me to suck it up.”

“I am not Bobbi,” Darcy said very quietly, pausing Clint in his tracks, his eye meeting hers. “I’m not Bobbi,” she repeated, pushing herself off the wall and walking over to where he’d stopped. “I’ll never push away when you’re hurting or upset, I’m not gonna let things fester, and yeah, sometimes you’re gonna hate me for it, but I will always, always be here for you when you need me,” she looked him straight in the eye for a moment. “Have I mentioned I think your ex-wife was a total bitch?”

“You might have mentioned it once or twice,” Clint curled his arms back around her and huffed out a breath into her hair. “Okay,” he leaned them back against the wall of the elevator and looked at the number it was displaying. “I really don’t want to go to this party.”

“Yeah, me either,” she let him hold her tight. “But we gotta, Jane already begged off for science, and to watch Hannah, so we’re kinda stuck.”

“Fine,” he sighed and kissed the top of her head. “But I think I’m gonna wanna give this new skin a test drive after, or during, we can sneak off for a while.”

“Up against the couch?” Darcy fiddled with the clasp of his belt. “Hannah’s with Jane and Eric, and I’ve been meaning to test out the integrity of the living room furniture.”

“Ma’am,” Clint tipped his imaginary hat, making his girlfriend giggle. “It would be my genuine pleasure.”

“Love you, Hawk,” she pushed the stop button, starting up the elevator again.

“Love you, too,” the elevator doors opened on the penthouse, a large sign over the bar greeted them, reading: Welcome back to Sexy times – Darcy and Clint. The archer pinched the bridge of his nose and took a long breath. Darcy groaned. “I’ll talk to him,” he told her, escorting her all the way into the room. Darcy just nodded and walked up to the bar, not looking up at the banner. She accepted a tumbler of vodka from the grinning Black Widow.

“So, the elevator was stopped for a long time, sestra,” Natasha teased.

“Would you believe we were just talking?” Darcy tossed back her drink as her friend shrugged.

“I will, but no one else will,” the Widow’s secret little smile made her wonder if the Russian wasn’t stirring the pot.

“I’m gonna need a double,” she handed the tumbler back to Natasha, who blew her a kiss and filled the glass.

*****

Darcy smoothed her skirt down over her butt, already regretting letting Natasha talk her into the shortest skirt she had in her closet. It looked great, and Clint hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her legs when she left the bedroom, the way his eyes had skimmed hungrily over her curves had made bits sit up and take notice, but the fucking thing didn’t quite cover everything when she sat down, and she wasn’t a big fan of sitting nearly bare assed on other people’s furniture.

“Stop fidgeting,” Natasha swiped at her hands, pushing a tumbler filled with ice and what smelled like rocket fuel into her hands. Apparently the Russian had decided she’d had enough that her friend wouldn’t notice the switch to Russian vodka from the watered down American stuff. “You look great, have another drink, relax.” The Widow winked at her from behind the bar, having to nearly shout over the noise of the party.

“My butt’s cold,” Darcy took an experimental sip from her glass, confirming that it was in fact rocket fuel. She delicately licked the remains off her lips; sure her taste buds had been permanently damaged. “And some old guy goosed me,” she looked over her shoulder to where Steve and Thor were laughing with a couple of World War Two vets.

“Clint’ll be back once he sorts Tony out,” the red head laughed, clinking her glass against Darcy’s. “He’ll watch out for wandering hands for you.”

Darcy giggled, saluting Natasha with her glass and throwing the contents back, instantly regretting it, as the million proof Russian rocket fuel burned all the way down, and she had to choke back a cough. “I’m sure he will,” her voice husky and rough. He’d help by covering her bits with his own hands and giving the room his murder eyes, and she couldn’t even bring herself to care. Her boyfriend was awesome.

*****

The team sat around the sunken living room, the party having died hours before. Darcy’s head lulled on Clint’s shoulder, pas the days of wanting to stay up all night drinking. Luckily for her, she had a very perceptive boyfriend, who, upon coming back from yelling at Tony, had taken her back to her place and proceeded to bend her over the couch, and she had come back in her favorite pair of jeans, high heels lying forgotten on the floor under the coffee table three floors down.

“But it’s a trick,” Clint waved at the hammer with his nearly empty beer bottle, his other arm secure around Darcy’s shoulders.

“Oh no,” Thor laughed at his slightly inebriated friend. “It’s much more than that.”

“Uh, ‘whosoever be he worth shall have the power,’” he bellowed, nearly dislodging his girlfriend from his lap, earning him a smack on the arm as she readjusted herself. “Whatever man, it’s a trick.”

“Well, please, be my guest,” the god of thunder offered.

“Come one,” Tony watched as the archer helped Darcy up.

“Really,” Clint gave her his beer as well, ignoring the exaggerated roll of her eyes.

“Yeah.”

“Oh this is gonna be beautiful,” Rhoddy clapped his hands together.

“Clint, you’ve had a tough week,” Tony grinned manically, looking between the archer and Darcy. “We won’t hold it against you if you can’t get it up.”

“Oh, he got it up just fine,” Darcy mumbled into her boyfriend’s beer, finishing off the dregs. “Twice.”

“You know I’ve seen this before, right?” he winked at Darcy and grabbed the hammer’s handle and pulled. “I still don’t know how you do it,” he grunted and let go.

“Smell the silent judgement?” Tony smirked.

“Please Stark,” Clint waved at the hammer still sitting on the coffee table. “By all means.”

“Oh, here we go,” Natasha rolled her eyes and curled up on the couch with Darcy as Clint pulled her back up into his lap. The group dissolved into the men trying to lift the hammer, while the women watching in mild fascination.

“All deference to the man who would be king,” Tony dropped back onto the arm of the couch, glaring at the handle like he was trying to puzzle it out. “But it’s rigged.”

“You bet your ass,” Clint raised his empty beer to Tony.

“Steve,” Darcy giggled into the archer’s neck, the warm scent of leather form his jacket making her drowsy with familiarity. “He said a bad language word.”

“Did you tell everyone about that?” Steve grumbled, eyeing Tony.

The billionaire just ignored him, continuing to look at the hammer. “The handle’s imprinted, right?” Tony continued to puzzle it out like a math problem. “Like a security code. ‘Whosoever is carrying Thor’s fingerprint,’ is, I think, the literal translation?”

“Yes,” Thor grinned, amused by the attention to his powers. “Well that’s uh,” he stood over the hammer. “That’s a very, very interesting theory, I have a simple one,” he lifted the hammer, flipping it in his hand like it weighed nothing. “You’re all not worthy.”

The sound of metal on glass drew everyone’s attention. “Worthy,” the robotic voice of a ruined Legionnaire suit ground the playful banter to a halt. “No, how could you be worthy?” the suit stumbled brokenly closer. “You’re all killers.”

Clint pushed Darcy to the floor in front of him, out of the robot’s eye line. “Stark,” Steve growled.

“Jarvis?”

“I’m sorry, I was asleep,” the creepy metallic voice ground out. “Or I was a dream?”

Tony kept trying to contact Jarvis. “Robot Legionnaire OS,” getting increasingly desperate as his AI continued not to answer. “We got a buggy suit.”

“There was a terrible noise,” the robot continued like no one had spoken. “And I was tangled,” it lifted its disjointed arms. “In strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy.”

Clint leaned close to Darcy, fishing the gun out of his holster. “When I say run, you run, get to my place,” he pulled the gun free from it’s ankle holster and pressed it into her hands. “Back of the closet, codes the day we met.” The room erupted into chaos. “I’ll come for you,” he whispered.

“What about Hannah?” she could feel sweat rolling down her spine and cold fear turning her veins to ice.

“Already in the safe room with Jane and Eric,” Tony whispered before he was gone.

“Run,” Clint pushed her to her feet and immediately turned, firing his Glock at Ultron and his usurped Legionnaires, covering her as she ran towards the back stairwell. Darcy didn’t look back or even slow down as she hit the safety door. She skidded down the steps in bare feet, tearing the bottoms of her feet on the stairs treads, but not slowing. Her breath came in bursting gulps as she rounded the corner to Clint’s apartment, yanking the door open. As almost an afterthought she hooked her hand around Lucky’s collar and pulled him into the small panic room with her to wait, finally taking the time to catch her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a donation in the box below, my muse could use a little boost after her long absence.


	15. Danger Will Robinson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, its a new chapter! Happy Weekend!
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 15: Danger Will Robinson

Darcy buried her head against Lucky’s side, letting the warmth of the dog seep into her as they huddled together on the concrete floor of Clint’s panic room. She had a fleeting thought about Tony really needing to up his game with the tiny concrete and metal room, but she wasn’t entirely sure that Tony had much say in the hidey hole that Clint had in his apartment. Along the walls that where bathed in red emergency lighting, hung weapons of all varieties, including no less than three different bows, and an array of arrows that would have intimidated Darcy not a year before. Lucky settled his heavy body over her legs with a huff.

“He’ll come for us as soon as he can, boy,” Darcy combed her fingers through the fur along the dog’s back, her head resting against the wall below Clint’s recurve, the matte black shining nearly purple in the red light. “He’ll keep us safe.” The dog didn’t have anything to add, but the comforting weight of him made Darcy feel a lot better. Her mind wandered to her daughter, who Tony had assured her was safe with Jane. The protocols of the Tower would have alerted them to Jarvis being compromised, though Darcy and the rest of the Avengers hadn’t noticed, so maybe it hadn’t gone off. She pushed those thoughts away, there was nothing she could do from inside the panic room, not until Clint came and released her, there was no use falling down the rabbit hole of panic that came with wondering whether or not her daughter and Jane had gotten into their own safe room.

Minutes ticked by like hours as she waited, her eyes heavy with the need for sleep, but the lingering sense of panic pulled at her until she was to restless to even contemplate closing them. Lucky didn’t have that problem, the old dog sound asleep over her legs, making her feet tingly with constricted blood flow. Her fingers continued to pet through the fur at the back of his neck as her eyes wondered over the weaponry that she was surrounded by. She had no illusions that if anyone but Clint or one of the other Avengers came to let her out, that she was screwed, she didn’t know how to use even the most rudimentary weaponry, and she was just as likely to slice into her own skin as she would be an enemy, if she even contemplated the wicked knives that hung on pegs around her. 

The creaking of the metal door jostled Darcy out of her half doze, the yellow light of the bedroom burning her eyes as Clint’s head peeked in, the blonde curls of their daughter following soon after. “Shh, little one, I think mommy’s asleep,” Clint whispered, reaching around the little girl to pull at Lucky’s collar.

“Mommy’s just sleepy, daddy,” Hannah insisted, wiggling around to drop into Darcy’s lap. “Aren’t you momma?”

“Yeah, baby,” her voice was rough with sleep, and her back ached from sitting on the hard floor with a dog in her lap. “Mommy’s really tired.”

“Sorry to wake you, babe,” Clint held out his hand for her, and gently pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her. “But we gotta get you guys moving.”

“Moving?” Darcy’s hands ran down his body, checking for anything amiss. His shirt was torn and his jacket was gone, but she didn’t find anything that concerned her with her cursory search. “What’s going on?”

“Hannah, can you take Lucky into the living room and feed him,” her father tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m sure he’s really hungry, since we didn’t get to give him dinner last night.”

“Sure daddy,” the little girl curled her fingers around the dogs collar and pulled him out of the bedroom.

“Tony made a killer robot, and it’s trying to take over the world,” Clint shrugged; he pulled out a duffle bag from the closet, tucked in the corner, opening it to reveal Darcy’s own clothing. “You gotta stay off the Grid,” he opened a safe in the wall and pulled out bundles of cash, tucking more than she wanted to count into the open bag. “Cash only. Get a prepaid burner phone, in cash. Every day at oh eight hundred you turn it on for one minute. I’ll call, or send texts during that time. Once you get your phone, you call this number, let it ring twice and hang up,” he tucked a scrap piece of paper into her hand. “At some point I’ll ask for your location, do not give it to me unless I use this phrase first,” he turned over the piece of paper.

“How much trouble are we in?” Darcy looked down at her boyfriend’s spiky scrawl on the paper, trying to read the words with her exhausted eyes, still burning in the lamp light.

“Jarvis just got eaten by some computer program that was made using Loki’s scepter,” her ran a hand over his face, the worry pinching the corners of his lips and pulling deep furrows between his brows, blowing out a long breath and sitting down on the corner of his bed. “I’m going to say a lot.”

“So no internet, no technology, nothing wired that can be traced to anyone,” she nodded, letting him pull her down onto the bed, her weight falling into his arms. “Where do we go?”

“I’ve got some friends, family really,” he pulled out a packet from the duffle bag and handed it to her, it was an itinerary for a circus, advertising each stop they made for the year. “I told you I was with the circus, this is it. When I joined Shield, we erased everything about my past, as far as the internet is concerned, nothing before Shield exists. It’s my safe place, the safest I can make you and Hannah.”

Darcy ran her fingers down the page, looking for the date. Carter’s Circus was in Iowa in two days, if she and Hannah were careful, she could meet up with them by then. “So, I get to run away and join the circus?”

Clint chuckled softly. “Spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Carter, let Hannah ride the elephant,” he kissed her softly on the crown of her head. “You tell them I sent you, and they’ll take care of you. We’ll get this mess cleaned up and all come home.”

“Come home to me, Hawk,” she curled her hands around the back of his neck, pulling him into her. “I need you,” her lips slanted over his, the chapped edges of his mouth pulling at hers softly. “Hannah needs you.”

“Always,” he kissed her again for a moment, the edge of desperation pulling them apart. “Grandpa Carter can show you how to use these,” he checked the safety on a gun that looked way too big for Darcy’s hands, and tucked it into a holster and then into the bag. “You tell him I need you to learn your way around a P30.” He zipped up the bag and pulled a second from the closet, this one was smaller, and when he opened it she could see the pink of Hannah’s favorite pajamas.

“When did you pack these?” Darcy slipped to the floor and shuffled through the folded clothing. “When did you put this together?”

“I’ve been adding to it since I met Hannah,” he shrugged, tucking one of Hannah’s teddy bears into the bag before zipping it up. “I didn’t take anything out of your room, I promise.”

“You bought clothes for us for a bag we might never use?” she looked up at her boyfriend, whose face was slowly siding from Clint to Hawkeye, even as she watched, the hard look that he always had in his eyes when he came home from a mission was taking over the laughing man she’d fallen in love with, making her chest tight.

“Needed to be ready,” he pulled her off the floor, dumping the bags on the bed. “Darcy, I need you to look at me,” her eyes locked with his. “I love you, I can’t say how long I’m going to be gone, but you cannot go with anyone but myself of Nat, promise me that, that if Nat comes for you, you ask no questions, she’ll take care of you.”

“If you can’t,” Darcy felt the bottom of her stomach drop out, not wanting to think about why he wouldn’t be able to come for her and their daughter. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” Clint pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. “I’ll come for you; I’ll come for you and our little girl.”

“I know,” she tucked her hands into the back pockets of his jeans and let his scent surround her. “I love you, too. Now go save the world.”

“Come on,” he kissed her hard and pulled away, throwing the bags over his shoulder. “Let me introduce you to Cherry.”

“That’s a car, isn’t it,” Darcy rolled her eyes and let him pull her out of the room, tucked under his arm. 

“Yeah, she’s a nineteen seventy Dodge Challenger,” he grabbed a set of keys off the hook in the kitchen. “She’s completely computer free, no GPS, nothing to tag her or hack,” he dropped the keys into Darcy’s hands, cupping them with his own. “You do know how to read a road map, right?” He gave her an appraising look when she just cocked her eyebrow at him. “What it’s not a trait most girls have these days.”

“I think you mean most people, Hawkass,” she growled. “Yes I can read a roadmap; I had to when Jane and I were in the back end of New Mexico, no cell service.”

“Right,” Clint sifted the bags and looked over to where Hannah was sitting on the floor petting Lucky. “Time to go, Niblet.”

“Where are we going, Daddy?” she smiled up at him, innocents and light shining from her lips.

“You and Mommy are going to take Lucky to stay with your grandparents for a while,” he told her, giving her his best smile back. “Daddy’s gotta go to work, and you can’t be here at the Tower right now.”

“I have grandparents?” Hannah tucked her hand around Lucky’s collar and pulled the dog from his food bowl over to her parents. “Mommy said they were all gone.”

“Grandma and Grandpa Carter aren’t really your grandparents, but they’re as close as we’ve got,” Clint said, looking down at the little girl. “They took care of daddy when he was in the circus.”

“We’re going to the circus?” she breathed. “I’ve never been to a circus before.”

“Why don’t you get Lucky’s food bag, and dry out his bowls, and we’ll get going,” he watched as the girl hopped to her new task. “Remember,” he pulled Darcy as close under his arm as he could, talking directly into the hair at the top of her head. “Oh eight hundred, every day. First thing you do when you get out of New York is buy a burner, and call that number I gave you, do not lose the number or what’s written on the back, memorize it too, have Hannah memorize it. I will call you and come for you, and we’re all going to come back home.”

“When we come home,” Darcy curled her arms around his waist. “Will you come live in our apartment?”

“Yes,” Clint sighed, feeling a weight bloom in the center of his chest. “I will gladly live with you two. Just as soon as we get home, but first, we have to save the world, and you have to keep the two of you safe, so we can have forever.”

“I want that,” she didn’t want to let go, but their little girl was back with Lucky’s things, the dog on his leash. “Okay, little one, Daddy’s got a cool new car for us.”

“We have a car?” Hannah’s face lit up all over again. “Is it red, cause if Daddy has a car, it’s gotta be red.”

“With a name like Cherry, it better be red, otherwise you and I are going to have a conversation about where this car came from,” Darcy whispered under her breath to her boyfriend.

“It’s red,” he assured her, pulling them both to the stairs. “Um, no elevators in the Tower,” he said to look on Darcy’s face. “I don’t wanna risk Ultron dropping us fifty floors.”

“Right,” Darcy looked down the endless stair well. “We’re gonna have to trade off carrying the Niblet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinds debating how I'm going to proceed, whether I'm going to fallow Clint and Darcy, so we see both Ultron and Darcy and Hannah's adventures with Carter's Circus, or if it's going to be all about Darcy, like it has been before. We'll see.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a token in the box below, it fuels the writer in me.


	16. On The Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, another shout out to my beta ktravierso, this chapter would simply not be the same without you. AND she taught me something new today, which means if you would like, I have links to all the Roadside Attractions that Darcy and Hannah visit!! 
> 
> Okay, I'm way too excited.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

 

Chapter 16: On The Road

 

It had been years since Darcy had driven a car with a manual transmission, and driving stick in Midtown was hell.  Darcy pulled the Challenger out into early morning traffic.  Dawn just barely beginning to peek around the buildings, dusting Manhattan in a magical glow, that could also have been because of the hour of fitful sleep that she’d managed to catch while sitting on the floor of Clint’s panic room.  Hannah dropped off almost as soon as they’d pulled far enough away from Avenger Tower that she could no longer see her father standing on the sidewalk, her tiny head pillowed against her duffle bag in the back seat.  Lucky wasn’t so settled, and stuck his furry head out the window as Darcy jerked the clutch and killed the car twice before she made it to the Lincoln Tunnel.  At least there wasn’t as much traffic as there could have been, even the city that never sleeps is a little bleary eyed at half past five in the morning.

 

As soon as she crossed into Jersey she pulled off at a convenience store and purchased a burner phone, pulling a couple of hundreds off the brick that her boyfriend had shoved in her duffle, a little intimidated by the amount of cash that he’d sent with her.  As soon as the phone was plugged into the cigarette lighter she powered it up, pulled off the side of a pedestrian street, and dialed the number that had been given to her.  After two rings she hung up and powered off the phone, letting it sit on the charger as she read the road map she’d picked up at a rest stop along the turnpike.  No more highways, or tolls; they were all monitored, and she didn’t want them watched.  She picked out a route to an attraction she’d seen advertised, tracing it with a highlighter so she could easily follow it.  The circus was going to be stopping in Waverly Iowa for three days at the end of the week, and if she planned it right, she could meet up with them on the second day.

 

Hannah woke for lunch as they pulled off the highway to a little run down diner near their first attraction.  “Hey niblet,” Darcy tucked a stray hair from her daughter’s braid back behind her ear as the little girl blinked sleepily at her.  “You hungry, bug?”

 

“My tummy wants a chocolate milkshake, mommy,” the little girl held her hands up to her mother, silently asking to be picked up.  “And a hamburger with only pickles.”

 

Darcy laughed quietly as she lifted the little girl and tucking her into her side.  Hannah’s head lulled on her shoulder as she walked into the diner and looked around.  “I think we can probably do that.”

 

“Lucky’s probably hungry, too.”  Bringing the dog complicated things, but Darcy had left the window cracked just a little, and it was cool enough that she wasn’t overly worried about leaving him in the car for a while as they ate.

 

“We’ll feed him when we get back in the car,” she brushed a kiss to the crown of her daughter’s head as she sat her down in the booth.  “I bet he’s ready for a walk, too.”  The girl nodded sagely and peered at the menu that she couldn’t really read.

 

*****

 

[The Haines Shoe house](http://www.hainesshoehouse.com) was neat, not really something that took time out of their schedule to walk around, but Hannah traipsed around with Lucky on his leash, and big smile on her face, and that made it all worthwhile.  Darcy drank another cup of coffee, feeling the fact that she hadn’t had any sleep settling in the center of her chest, she would have to pull them off the road sooner rather than later, or she’d fall asleep at the wheel.

 

She bundled them back into the car and pulled out her map of Pennsylvania and Ohio and made the next leg of their journey, resolving to stop after they crossed the border into Ohio, knowing that there was no way she was going to make the four hundred plus mile expanse to their next destination on back roads.  Their motel was run down, and not somewhere that she would usually stop, but she couldn’t see any CCTV cameras, and that was enough of an assurance that Tony’s killer robot couldn’t find them.

 

*****

 

[The World’s oldest traffic light](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2927) was a bit of a disappointment, even if it did still work.  Darcy pulled the car back onto the road out of Ashville and aiming Cherry towards Indiana, grumpy from bad sleep in a lumpy bed, and the hyperactive antics of a restless four year old and big dog.  She fumbled with the ancient radio, flicking through one static filled station to another, missing her car and its modern conveniences.  The one bright light from the morning was the short text from Clint.  It had only said ‘I love you girls,’ but it made the caution she’d been taking feel entirely worth it.  She’d sent back her own text, letting him know how much they both loved him, too.

 

Leaving the radio as a lost cause, Darcy rolled down the windows.  If she wasn’t going to get music, she could at least douse herself with fresh air.  It was too cold to roll them down far.  As it was, Hannah was bundled up in her purple hooded jacket and novelty Hulk knit cap that Aunt Nat had found her at a street stall in New York when they’d gone on a girl’s day a few months before.  It was her favorite, and she’d been thrilled when they’d gotten to stop off at their apartment to get it.

 

Hannah skipped down the path at the [Birdhouse Paradise](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/46460) in Loogootee Indiana, while Darcy sat on a bench, watching.  She turned the burner phone over and over in her hands, wishing she could talk to Clint, just to hear his voice, a reassurance that he was alright, but she knew she couldn’t.  Their safety depended on her being as off the grid as she could be, and making the way up to Iowa and disappearing in the anonymity of a traveling circus was the best way for her to do that.  She pulled out her maps again, folding them into manageable sections and planning out her route.  Darcy was never going to take GPS for granted ever again.  She tucked her hands into the sleeves of Clint’s bomber jacket and highlighting the backroad path that would take them into Illinois and one step closer to their destination.  The scent of gun smoke that lingered in the fabric that surrounded her made her entire body warm, even in the chilly breeze of the Heartland.

 

“Niblet,” Darcy stood and tucked the maps back into her back pocket, fingering the keys to the old red Challenger.  “I think it’s time to get going,” she watched as the little girl coaxed Lucky back towards her, and picked her way down the path.  “You have any ideas about lunch?”

 

“Since we’re on vacation,” Hannah handed the leash off to her mother and requested being picked up again.  She’d been clingy since they’d left the Tower, not that Darcy blamed the girl.  Hannah knew her daddy was putting himself in danger, and that it wasn’t just a vacation they were going on.  “Can I have a milkshake today, too?”  The little girl also knew how to play her mother, and Darcy was just the sucker to give in.

 

“Sure, sweetheart.”

 

*****

 

Darcy pulled off just as they crossed the Illinois border again.  The motel left a great deal to be desired, but Hannah didn’t seem to notice that her mother stripped off the sheets and laid out a sleeping bag and blanket from the car.  She crawled into bed next to her momma, and tucked her little body in close.

 

“How many more days are we going to be in the car?” Hannah asked, rubbing her sleepy face into the meaty part of her mother’s arm, her fingers petting down over Darcy’s hand.  “Cause I like daddy’s car, but it’s getting smelly, and uncomfortable.”

 

“We’ll be with Grandma and Grandpa Carter tomorrow night,” Darcy tucked her little girl under her chin, breathing in the warm smell of little girl.  “But you know that the circus travels, so we’re going to be driving again.”

 

“In Cherry?” she asked, her voice heavy with sleep.

 

“I don’t know, baby,” Darcy looked up at the water stained ceiling and sighed.  The Carter’s didn’t know they were coming, and she only had Clint’s assurance that they would welcome them.  It made her nervous to not have a solid plan, especially with Hannah in the mix, but she trusted him, he would keep them safe.

 

*****

 

Darcy turned on the phone at exactly eight in the morning, and waited.  The phone sprang to life, a chirpy ring making Darcy’s heart beat out of her chest.  She took a deep breath and answered.

 

“Hey, babe,” she breathed.

 

“Hey, how are my girls?” Clint’s voice rumbled low, making things grow low and tight inside of her.  She glanced at their daughter, still sound asleep on the bed.

 

“We’re fine,” she smiled, cradling the phone close to her head.  “Hannah’s still sleeping; it’s been hard on her.”

 

“I’d imagine,” he huffed.

 

“What’s going on?  You guys have a heading?” Darcy asked, knowing that he probably couldn’t tell her.

 

“Waiting and seeing,” Clint sighed.  She could almost see him leaning back, ankles crossed as he folded his arms over his chest, the phone between his ear and shoulder.

 

“Steve and Tony will steer you right,” she told him, not really knowing what else to say.

 

“That’s a negative,” he growled.  “I answer to you.”

 

“Whatever,” Darcy laughed, putting her hand over her mouth as their little girl stirred in her sleep.  “You stay safe, and make sure those yahoo’s you work with behave themselves.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Clint drawled out.

 

“You know what that does to me, Hawkass,” she could feel the heat creeping up the back of her neck.

 

“Gotta go,” he told her, reluctance coating his words.  The 'I love you' was implied, even as he hung up the phone.

 

*****

 

In Illinois there was the [Gold Pyramid House](http://goldpyramid.com), which was a bit of a disappointment, but then Darcy had chosen attractions that weren’t likely to attract that much traffic, so she got what she paid for, she supposed.  The drive through the state of Illinois was dull, endless fields empty of life, tucked in and ready for spring that wasn’t going to spring for months.  Hannah leaned against the window staring at nothing as Darcy kept herself entertained by counting the farm houses, and talking to Lucky, who was having the time of his life, tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, head out the window, a dopey grin on his doggy face.

 

A weight lifted from Darcy’s shoulders as they passed the welcome sign into Iowa, the state motto in script on the sign.  She slowed and read it, letting the words roll over her.  ‘Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.’  The weight of the words giving her a little hope as she made their way to the last pit stop on their little road trip.

 

Darcy sat on a bench looking at a sign declaring that she was sitting at the [future birth place of James T Kirk](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2081).  Hannah chased Lucky around, the dog’s long leash tangling around the little girl’s legs.  She was reluctant to bundle them back into the car, but they needed to meet the circus, and they still had a few hours’ drive time ahead of them.

 

The drive to Waverly wasn’t as bad as the last few legs, two hours had her pulling past the welcome sign, and a stop at the first gas station she could find pointed her towards the circus.  The lump in the back of her throat that had been growing the closer they got to the Carters grew ten times.

 

*****

 

The big top was faded from years in the sun, but the atmosphere pulled at the little Midwestern girl inside of Darcy.  She pulled the old Challenger into a spot between a couple of pickups and hopped out, rolling the window down for Lucky as she tucked Hannah onto her hip.  The evening’s performance was still a few hours away, but there were people all over the place setting up and kids running around.

 

“Is this where daddy grew up, mommy,” Hannah’s fingers curled into the collar of Darcy’s hoodie, looking around them in wonder.

 

“Yeah, niblet,” she bounced the girl higher onto her hip and made a beeline for the closest person she could see, a dark haired man with his back to her, tossing bales of hay into the back of a truck.  “Excuse me,” she called, waiting for him to turn.

 

“Show doesn’t start till six, sweetheart,” he said without turning.

 

“I know,” she put Hannah down on the straw studded ground, leaving a hand on her shoulder.  “I’m looking for the Carter’s, Clint Barton sent me.”

 

The man stopped what he was doing, the bale of hay in his hand dropping to the ground and bursting apart.  “Clint sent you,” he turned and looked Darcy over from head to toe, taking in the little girl beside her.  “You his wife?”

 

“Close enough,” Darcy lifted her chin.  “Can you point me in the right direction?”

 

“Sweetheart, you’re already here,” he held his hand out to her, a very familiar smile on his lips.  “Barney Barton, and you are?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reads my fiction. I love reading your comments and getting kudos in my inbox, thank you all for taking the time.


	17. The Downward Spiral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday everyone. Have some Ultron! And some Barney.
> 
> Thanks, as always to my beta ktravierso, without whom I would have a lot more grammar mistakes. As it is, all mistakes are mine (and some are courtesy of our friend Joss) and mine (except the ones that aren't) alone.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 17: The Downward Spiral

Following Ultron to South America had been a cluster fuck from the word go. The scepter powered AI had not only been two steps ahead of them at every turn, but it seemed had now brought in the two enhanced kids from Strucker’s compound. Clint climbed up as high as he could, bracing himself between the corner of the handrails. Looking down at the fighting, an arrow knocked against his bow string as he tried to track the speedy little brat, looking for a good shot to take him out of play, while still trying to watch the team’s backs with Ulysses’ men around every corner.

“Guys,” Banner’s voice broke over the coms, broken and distant, an edge of fear and desperation coloring the words. “Is this a Code Green?” Yeah, total cluster fuck. Clint said nothing as he did a quick check on each team member in his sight line, watching as Steve hit the speedy kid in the head with his shield.

The female enhanced teen snuck up to Thor, red wisps of power wafted from her fingertips, swirling around the Asgardian’s head. Thor looked stunned for a moment before seeming to shake it off. “Thor!” Steve looked wildly over to their friend, trying to fight his way over to the other man. “Status?”

“The girl tried to warp my mind,” the Asgardian’s voice rang clear, though he seemed distracted, making Clint’s heart double time in his chest. Everything to do with that fucking scepter made his stomach sour. His greatest fear was having his mind taken again, the possibility that he could be used to hurt his friends, or god forbid, his family, was enough to make him want to vomit. “Take special care,” Thor continued. “I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty.” 

The archer nearly choked on his heart as Thor seemed to fade away, his movements ceasing, and his gaze fixed in the middle distance, red fog dissipating around his head. The girl quickly disabled Steve and then Natasha as Clint watched helplessly from his nest high up. He clicked through the settings on his bow, tracking the girl’s movements as he pulled an arrow free from his quiver.

“This is going so well,” Ultron’s voice was like nails on glass.

Clint ignored the AI as he slowly inched towards the corner, eyes scanning the room for any movement. He stilled as he felt the first questing touches against his mind and spun the arrow, jabbing it against the girl’s forehead, releasing the electric shock directly into her head. 

“I’ve done the whole mind control thing,” he pulled the spent arrow off her head and stuffed it back into his quiver to be recharged. “Not a fan.” He let out a long breath as the girl stood stunned, sending a silent thank you to his wonderful girlfriend for her insistence that a Taser arrow be added to his arsenal. 

In a rush of displaced air Clint was launched through the glass control room, landing hard on the broken glass, the boy picked his sister up and speeds away. “Yeah,” he shouted at the speedy fucker, who threw him a one fingered salute. “You better run,” Clint lay on his side, taking quick stock of his body, trying to get his heart back under control, swallowing around the planet sized lump in his throat. 

He listened to the deathly quiet coms, the team all in a daze, staring off into nothing. “Who ever’s standing,” he called over the coms, pulling himself back to his feet slowly, wobbling from the abrupt landing and the adrenalin starting to crash. “We gotta move,” he made his way down the metal stairs towards Nat. “Guys?” his com remained silent, but in the distance he could hear a loud roar. Yep, totally Fubar.

*****

Darcy looked at the smiling man, his hand still extended towards her. She slowly let Hannah slip down off her hip and pushed the young girl behind her, her eyes never leaving her boyfriend’s brother.

“Ah,” Barney’s hand dropped back down and he heaved a sigh. “I see my reputation precedes me.” Darcy watched as his hand rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, you got no reason to trust me.”

Darcy scoffed under her breath, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, unwilling to look away from him for even a fraction of a second.

“But I am not gonna hurt you, darling,” he raised both hands to Darcy, showing her they were empty. Not that she didn’t know more than half a dozen people that didn’t need a weapon to hurt, or even kill someone.

“Only two people are allowed to call me darling,” she told him, patting her daughter’s shoulder, as the little girl clung to her back pocket, little fingers tugging at the denim material. “I’m sorry, but I’m simply not inclined to believe a word that comes out of your mouth.”

“Left that life far behind me, ma’am,” Barney sighed, shifting under her continued scrutiny. “I’ve long regretted how I left Clint.”

“So you say,” she leaned down and whispered quietly into Hannah’s ear, sending the little girl back to the car with the keys in her hand. “You left him for dead, you're fucking lucky you didn’t succeed, this world would be a much poorer place without him in it. Now, Clint sent me to see the Carters, if they’re not here, we’ll move on.”

“What’s my little brother gotten into now?” Barney shook his head, his hand going back to rub the back of his neck again. It was such a Clint action that it threw Darcy to see this man in front of her doing it.

“I’m not telling you a thing,” Darcy wished she’d had the foresight to tuck her Taser in the back of her jeans.

“Just, did he go straight? Last I heard he was a merc for hire. Is he happy?” Barney pulled a phone out of his back pocket and brought it to his ear, when Darcy just shook her head, miming zipped lips. “Hey Joe, gotta girl here,” he took a small step back. “She says she’s…”

“Don’t say his name,” Darcy held up her hands, making a grab for the phone. “Not over the phone.” She did a quick look around, there was no CCTV anywhere around the small clearing, but you couldn’t be too careful these days.

“Says she’s a friend’s wife,” he finished, hands up, phone tucked against his shoulder. Darcy rolled her eyes; she had not once said the word wife, that had been all Barney’s assumption. “Wanna come out here and talk a moment with her?” She looked back a moment to check on Hannah, who was watching through the back window of the Challenger, with Lucky tucked under her arm, happily panting. “Bring Laura with you.”

*****

Grandma and Grandpa Carter were exactly what she’d been expecting when she drove to Iowa. Every story Clint had told her swam back to the surface as she and Hannah sat in the front room of their little trailer, handmade doilies sitting under every surface, carefully crochet curtains, and small baubles glistening in the sunlight that streamed into the warm living space made her ache for her boyfriend’s hands on her, his voice whispering stories of his childhood. She sat next to her daughter, her hands tucked under her thighs as Grandma Carter set a steaming cup of tea in front of her.

“How is Clint?” Joe Carter smiled warmly, his face lined and tanned from years out in the sun, but open and kinder than she thought possible.

“He’s doing well,” she slipped one hand from under her legs and took the delicate tea cup in her hand. Hannah had gulped down the apple juice she’d been given, and was making her way through half a dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies. “But he had to go out on a job, and it wasn’t safe for us.”

“Avenger business?” Maggie Carter smiled at Darcy’s shock. “We don’t talk often, not in years, but we’ve got a couple of PO boxes around, he drops a letter in them every once in awhile.”  
“Yeah,” Darcy said after a moment. “Avenger business.”

“Daddy’s fighting the big scary robot that Uncle Tony and Uncle Bruce made by mistake,” Hannah grinned around her cookie. “He gave us Cherry and told us we needed to see the circus.” It was grossly over simplified, but essentially true.

“You’re a very brave little girl,” Joe smiled at her, putting the cookie that had been sitting on his plate onto hers. “I bet your daddy’s real proud.” Hannah just smiled and took a bite of the new cookie.

“I gotta say,” Darcy put her cup back on its saucer and took a deep breath. “I wasn’t expecting to see Barney. Clint thinks he’s dead.”

“Barney’s had a hard go,” Maggie nodded. “I’m not going to excuse what he did, or how it all ended between those boys. Clint was right to stand up to Trickshot when those two approached him; I just wish we’d seen what was happening before it got so bad.” Darcy just nodded. “But Barney’s been back with us for,” she thought a moment, seeming to count out years on her fingers. “Five seasons,” she counted again. “Yeah, five seasons, since Michael was born. We’ll both vouch for him; those bad times are far behind him. Laura would tan that boys hide, he try and pull anything over on anyone ever again. She’s got him on a tight leash, and he seems to like it.”

“Laura?” Darcy tilted her head to the side. Barney had mentioned a Laura over the phone, but apparently she’d been in town.

“Barney’s wife,” Joe smiled at Darcy, and she wondered if he ever lost the warm grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes. “She’s a spit fire if I’d ever met one.” He chuckled and rubbed his hand up and down his thigh, digging his fingers into the top of his knee. “She’ll be back soon.”

*****

Laura was probably ten years older than Darcy. She was kind, with a ready smile, and very pregnant. She was also full of sass and sarcasm, and even with her heavily pregnant belly, you could tell, like Darcy, she had curves for days. The Barton boys very clearly had a type, short brunettes with attitudes. Darcy liked her instantly.

“I was just going to round up the kids to make dinner,” Laura rubbed her stomach, her other hand pushing into her back. “If you wanna help.”

Darcy smiled and nodded. “How about you sit down, and tell me what to do,” she scooped up Hannah, whose head was lulling a bit. It had been a long few days for her little girl. “But first I should probably put Hannah bear down.”

“The boys have a trundle in their room,” Laura pushed herself up off the counter and waddled to the steps, leaning back as she carefully made her way down. “You are welcome to put her down there.”

“Sure,” Darcy watched as the other woman put her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle that broke across the entire campsite. “And you gotta teach me how to do that.” Laura just nodded and smiled, laughing as she led Darcy back to her own trailer.

*****

Tony stood in front of the front holoscreen, Pepper lit up in front of him, her bottom lip tucked up under her teeth. “So, we run and hide?” he asked as she gnawed on her lip.

“Until we find Ultron, I don’t have a lot else to offer,” she sighed, knowing she wasn’t saying what he wanted to hear.

“Neither do we,” the billionaire looked around the jet at his teammates, all looking haggard and lost. He switched off the monitor, not having anything else to say. “Hey,” he turned to Clint, who was sitting in the pilot’s seat. “You wanna switch out?”

“No,” the archer angled the jet back towards the states. “I’m good.” He pulled out his phone and typed a quick message before shutting it off. He did a quick calculation on his fingers, trying to figure out how long he had until eight am in the Midwest. “If you wanna get some shut eye, now’s a good time,” he looked back down at the phone before tucking it into the front pocket of his pants. “Cause we’re still a few hours out.”

“A few hours from where?” Tony leaned forward, looking at the ocean rushing under them, clouds occasionally obscuring the view.

“A safe house,” Clint shrugged, two hours before he could call his girl, he couldn’t wait to hear her voice, to be in her arms again. Tony nodded and wandered into the back of the jet, hopefully looking for somewhere to lie down. Clint sighed, it had been a long fucking week, and they needed a little respite. Hopefully the Carter’s were up for getting crashed by the Avengers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave your thoughts, they feed the bunny!


	18. Oh What a Circus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Thank you as always to my lovely beta, ktravierso, who is very patient and kind to deal with all my BS. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 18: Oh What a Circus

Darcy turns on the burner phone when the alarm wakes her up in the living room of Laura and Barney’s trailer. Hannah was still sleeping on her trundle bed in the boys’ room. The three cousins had exhausted themselves the night before, running around the circus grounds, introducing their new cousin to everyone and everything. Hannah had been so excited about the elephant named Flora, who Grandpa Joe had promised she could ride if she was a very good girl, and helped them give the massive animal a bath. The little girl had readily agreed with excited energy. Though she had stayed up far later than Darcy would have liked, especially after the long few days they had had traveling, with excited energy. The phone beeped as soon as it booted up with a text message.

Do not turn off the phone, we’re flying between time zones and I need to talk to you. Hawk.

Darcy rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and yawned, nodding at the message on the phone.

I’m waiting for your call. Mrs. Hawk.

She laughed softly to herself over the nickname that Clint’s circus family had given her. She had patently explained to Laura that she wasn’t really Clint’s wife. But the other woman had just shrugged her off saying it didn’t really matter, as far as they were all concerned, she was Mrs. Hawk and Hannah was Little Hawk, they were family. Apparently they still called Laura Mrs. Swordsman, too.

Darcy turned the coffee pot and leaned against the small kitchen counter. The quiet of the morning was seeping into her bones.

“Morning, sis,” Barney stumbled out of the master bedroom and reached around Darcy to pull out a mug, looking ridiculously like Clint before coffee, his eyes half open, feet barely lifting from the floor as he shuffled around the kitchen pulling breakfast sundries out of the cabinets. “Sleep well?”

“The couch is surprisingly comfortable,” Darcy poured the first cup of coffee from the pot and held out her hand for her brother-in-law’s mug.

“You lie like Clint,” he smiled sleepily and accepted the caffeinated beverage. “We can figure something else out if it's too bad.”

“It's really fine,” she shrugged and took a tentative sip of her coffee. It was still too hot to drink like she wanted to, but a little bit was better than nothing. “It's not like you guys were expecting us, we just sorta showed up.”

“Family’s family,” Barney told her. He leaned back on the counter next to her, taking his own small drink from his mug and looking down the hallway to where they could see Laura making the bed through the open doorway. “You ready to tell me how Clint’s really doing?”

“Well,” Darcy took a bit of coffee into her mouth and savored the flavor for a moment. Real home brewed coffee trumped the diner crap she’d been drinking the past few days. “He’s doing good work.”

“So no longer a mercenary?” he pressed, waiting patiently for her to answer.

“No, he’s not a gun for hire anymore,” she consented. “He was extended an offer, about fifteen years ago, one of those you either accept or we kill you kinda deals. Turned out to be a really good move. He’s happy.”

“And how did you two meet?” Barney drained the last of the coffee in his mug and turned to refill it, shaking the pot at Darcy who held out her cup for a warm up.

“At a bar,” Darcy smiled into the cup, remembering how Clint had approached her, a beer in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.

“Of course you did,” her brother-in-law chuckled and nodded down the hall to Laura, who was disappearing into the boys’ room to get the kids up. “I met Laura in a bar, too. Was still working for the wrong element at the time. She tracked me down a few months later, said she was pregnant, and if I wanted anything to do with her or the kid I had to get my head on straight and get out of the life. Took some time, but she kicked my ass into gear.”

“Clint was on assignment when we met,” Darcy told him. “I was actually kinda his assignment, I guess, or more aligned with his assignment. He was out in New Mexico as part of a protection and surveillance crew that was watching my boss as a person of interest. We had a nice drunken night, and then he got called to another assignment. I didn’t see him again until Hannah and I moved to New York, and there he was as part of our welcoming party. I punched him.”

“And it was love from then on, I bet,” Barney accepted a kiss from his wife and patted both sleepy boys as they made their way to the kitchen table. Little Hannah was the last person out of the bedroom, her sleep rumpled hair sticking up all over her head.

“Yeah,” Darcy dropped her mug in the sink. “It was love.” Her phone beeped, interrupting their conversation. “Excuse me, I gotta take this.” Barney just nodded, and she made her way out the door of the trailer. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten.”

“Not a chance Mrs. Hawk,” Clint’s voice soothed the little bit of tension she’d been holding since she and Hannah had left New York. “There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it.”

Darcy took a long breath, and tapped a few things into the search on her phone before giving him the coordinates. “You coming now?”

 

“A few hours out, darling,” she can hear the slight smile in his voice. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Hawk,” she said quietly to the dial tone.

*****

The Quinnjet landed in an unused field on the other side of the parking lot from the circus, making no more noise than a little displaced air and some kicked up dust. Clint ran through his safety checks, and dropped his headset down over the back of his seat.

“What is this place?” Thor looked out the front windows of the cloaked jet to the color-faded tents of the circus.

“A safe house?” Tony squinted out the back of the jet, dust and dirt still settling as they started to disembark. “Barton, we really need to talk about your definition of the word house.”

“It’s home,” Clint looked around the fairgrounds, the familiar smells bringing up memories of childhood. He searched the people milling about trying to find one of the Carter’s or Darcy. Maggie Carter spots him first and raises a hand in greeting. “Honey, I’m home,” he calls to the woman who had been like a mother to him, as she jogs over to him, pulling him into a warm embrace. “Hi,” he smiled as she tightened her grip for a moment before pulling away, holding his by the shoulders to get a look at him. He was still in his tactical gear, not having taken the time to change. For that matter, the entire group is still in their gear, save Tony and Bruce. “Company, sorry I didn’t call ahead.”

“Darcy told us there was a possibility,” Maggie smiled warmly at him and pulled him in for another hug.

“This is an agent of some kind,” Tony looked at Thor for some kind of confirmation, the god of thunder just shrugged.

“I know all your names,” Maggie looked over the group that had invaded her camp. She held out her hand to Steve, who was closest.

“Sorry for barging in on you,” Steve took her hand and shook it, looking uncertain.

“Yeah, we would have called ahead,” Tony took her hand next, her grip firm around his fingers, and her smile warm and motherly. Tony instantly liked her. “But we were busy having no idea that you existed.”

“Yeah,” Clint rubbed the back of his head with one hand, looking sheepish. “Well, Fury helped me erase my past when I joined. He kept if off Shield’s files,” he looked over at his fellow Avengers, letting a little of Hawkeye persona to bleed onto his face. “I’d like to keep it that way.” His friends all nodded in acknowledgement. “I figured a traveling circus would be a good place to lay low for a few days, while we figure this shit out.”

“Watch your language, young man,” Maggie knocked him under the chin with her knuckles. “We missed you, Hawkeye.”

Clint kissed her cheek, and let her pull him into another hug. “I missed you, too, Maggie.” He looked around the circus, which hadn’t changed much in the twenty years since he’d been away. “You know where Darcy and Hannah are?”

“Hannah’s with the other kids helping Joe give Flora a bath,” she pointed around the far side of the main tent.

“What’s a Flora?” Tony whispered to Natasha, who just shrugged.

“Flora’s still around?” Clint asked, ignoring the question.

“Flora’s daughter is,” Maggie smiled. “Flora the first is living it up at a retirement home for elephants in Tennessee.”

“She deserves it,” the archer nodded. “And Darcy?”

Maggie looked around, her hand gently rubbing at her chin as she thought. “Darcy, I think I saw her going with your brother,” she’s too distracted with her search to see the alarmed look that Clint shot Natasha, who returned it. A knife drops into the Widow’s hand, she tucked it back into her palm so that the civilians milling around don’t see it. Clint checks his service weapon, that he still carried strapped to his thigh, flicking off the safety as it still sat dormant in his holster. All vestiges of Clint bleed back to let Hawkeye forward, his face hard and calculating. “He was going to show her how to use that gun you sent her with,” Maggie patted Hawkeye on the shoulder, still looking off into the distance. “Big gun for such a little thing.”

“Where?” the Hawk’s fingers itched inches away from the grip of his P30, seeing the Widow doing the same with her Glock 26. He wished he hadn’t left his bow tucked away in the QuinJet.

“Around back,” Maggie gave him a curious look before realizing her mistake. Hawkeye and the Black Widow took off before she could even have a chance to explain. She stood their with her mouth half open, a pained look on her face as her adopted son disappeared around the corner.

“Nice place you’ve got here,” Steve commented, trying to break the suddenly thick tension.

“Why thank you, Captain,” Maggie answered automatically, her eyes focused on where Clint and his friend had disappeared.

“Just Steve, ma’am,” Mrs. Carter just nodded absently, before walking away.

*****

Barney had his hands on her jean clad hips, holding them firmly as he kicked her feet further apart, the P30 in her hands pointed down the makeshift range that he’d set up far enough away from the rest of the camp, pointed towards the woods behind the fairgrounds, using some of the hay bales that he had set up for his archery practice. “Don’t lock your elbows,” he told her when he was satisfied with her stance. “And stop twisting your hips,” he pushed her hips back the way he wanted them. He snapped the ear protectors back over her ears and tapped her shoulder, signaling she was safe to fire. The kickback was more than Darcy was expecting, forcing her hands back and up as she missed the targets entirely. He pushed her arms back into position and tapped her again.

“I suck,” she shouted. Barney pulled the ear protectors off her ears and helped her unlock the clip, letting it drop into her hand. “I can’t even hit a six foot target.”

“It's your first time,” he took the clip from her and showed her how to load the bullets into the clip before showing how to shove it back into the gun, releasing it again so she could do it herself. “How come Clint hasn’t showed you how to do this before?”

Darcy just shrugged and took the gun back, turning back down range and letting him position her again. “I guess he didn’t really want to acknowledge the fact that I might one day need to know this stuff.”

“Finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire,” he told her, pushing her feet apart again as her finger pulled out of the trigger guard and lay along the barrel of the gun. “Okay, now I want you to take a long slow breath and look between the sights, make them line up, let out your breath slowly and pull the trigger, don’t yank at it.” He pushed the ear protectors over her ears again, and sighted over her shoulder as she tried to follow his instructions. 

Hawkeye watched as his brother held onto his girlfriend’s hips as she fired the weapon he’d given her. Darcy was tense and missed the target each time she fired. He crept quietly up behind them, not that it really mattered, they were both wearing ear protection, and probably couldn’t have heard him if he’s come up shouting. Widow shadowed him, curling around behind him to sidle up to the other side of the Swordsman. The Hawk nodded as Darcy let the clip drop into her hand, and Barney pulled the ear protectors off her ears. “Don’t move,” he pressed the barrel of his gun to the other man’s temple. Barney lifted his hands away from Darcy, the empty gun held loosely in one hand. “Drop the gun and step away from the girl.”

“What the hell Clint?” Darcy turned to see her boyfriend with his gun pressed tightly to the side of Barney’s face, everything that made him Clint completely gone, replaced by Hawkeye. Natasha held out her hand for the clip in her hand, as she pulled Darcy away from the men. “Clint, chill the fuck out, and let him explain.”

“Darcy, I need you to get Hannah and get let Widow take you both to the jet,” Hawkeye growled, pressing the weapon harder into the side of Barney’s head, making the man move with him. “I will be right there.”

“Not going to happen, asshole,” Darcy folded her arms under her bust. “You put that gun away, and let your brother talk, before you do anything you regret.”

“Darcy,” he looked at her, her stance loose and her face saying she wasn’t going to take any of his shit.

“Nope,” she pushed Natasha away from her, and just looked at him. “Put the fucking gun down, Barney’s not hurting me.” Clint looked between his brother and his girlfriend, and took the gun from Barney’s head, but didn’t put it back into it’s holster. “Clinton Francis Barton, you do as I say, or so help me, you will be sleeping on the couch when we get home.”

“I think he’s gonna be sleeping on the couch no matter what, sis,” Barney chuckled darkly. “We ain’t got anymore space, and that’s where you’re already sleeping.”

“Not helping,” Darcy grumbled, her shoulders dropping. “Its nice to see you, Hawk, Nat.”

“Everything really okay?” the Widow asked, tucking a knife back somewhere on her person.

“Yeah,” the other woman nodded. “Come on, we’ll introduce you to Laura and the kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment in the box below. My muse also accepts chocolate and coffee, and if you're a baker, she likes snicker-doodles.


	19. Little Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Saturday!
> 
> Thank you ktravierso for editing.
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 19: Little Talks

Darcy found herself back in the Carter’s living room, a steaming mug of tea on the table in front of her, and her very tense boyfriend pressed to her side, his best friend bracketing her on the other. She didn't want to say anything, but they were both still in their tactical gear, and getting a little ripe in the small room. She took a tiny sip from her tea cup and waited for Barney to get back with Laura.

“You have a very lovely home, Mrs. Carter,” Natasha said conversationally, drinking her tea like it was completely normal.

“Why thank you, Natasha,” Maggie smiled at the red head, putting out a plate of cookies that looked like they’d just come out of the oven. Darcy bet they had. “And please, call me Maggie.”

“Of course, Maggie,” Nat settled her cup in its saucer and leaned back on the couch, for all the world looking relaxed. Darcy knew better, she could feel the fizzle of tension in the Black Widow’s posture, their legs pressed so tightly together on the small couch.

“So we’re just gonna sit here and wait,” Clint glared at the cookies on the table, his arms crossed over his chest. “Like their isn’t a giant Barney shaped elephant in the room?”

“What would you like for me to say, dear?” Maggie sat down in the chair near Clint and tipped her head to the side. “I wasn’t keeping this from you, but you never visit. You send us letters, but we don’t have a way to contact you.”

“Well that’s gonna have to change,” Darcy poked her boyfriend who finally sighed and nodded. “Clint’s very sorry.”

“I’m sorry, Maggie,” he let his hands drop to his lap and sighed again. “How long?”

“Five years,” Barney said as he helped Laura up the two short steps into the trailer. “We came back when Laura was pregnant with Michael.” Clint nodded dumbly, his eyes glued to the very pregnant belly of the woman his brother had tucked under his arm. “Clint, this is my wife Laura.”

“I’m sorry, your what?” Clint blinked and looked Laura up and down, his eyes landing again on her stomach. “I mean, nice to meet you, ma’am,” Darcy poked him in the ribs, pushing him to stand up. He glared down at her for exactly one second before she rolled her eyes and poked him again, harder this time. He stood and held out his hand to Laura, who shook it. When he went to sit back down, Darcy’s hand on his ass prevented him.

“Pregnant lady trumps smelly Hawkeye,” was all she said. She looked at Natasha with equal determination, kicking the Black Widow off the couch as well, before moving to make room for Laura.

“Thank’s Darcy,” Laura sat down and kissed Darcy on the cheek, melting into the soft cushions. “The first two weren’t this hard.”

“Really, cause I remember month eight with Hannah felt like it took a million years, and everything hurt, like all the time,” Darcy let Laura lean against her, the pregnant woman propping her feet up on the coffee table with a loud groan. “Yeah, and the foot swelling shit is not for the faint of heart.”

“No, it's not,” she chuckled quietly, while the rest of the room watching the two women on the couch. “So, your husband wasn’t so keen on seeing mine, it seems.”

“Umm,” Clint just looked questioningly at Darcy for a moment. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes. They’d talk about it later.

“Not worth it, brother,” Barney leaned against the end of the kitchen cabinets, folding his arms over his chest. “Laura and I weren’t married when we got to the circus either. We lasted about a month before we just gave in and made it official, didn’t seem worth protesting anymore.”

“So, you’ve been back for five years?” Clint huffed and let his weight fall to the little partition wall that lead to the steps, as far from his brother as he could be in the miniscule room. “And you just let him come back?”

“Barney came back as part of his rehab,” Laura supplied, rubbing her hands up and down her distended belly. “Its one of the steps, making amends, or whatever.”

“We didn’t just let him do anything,” Maggie assured the archer. “He came back with Laura and little Jonathan, he made his apologies, and left. Laura was finishing veterinary school, and they had a place in Potosi?” Laura nodded in agreement. “We didn’t see them for another year, Barney contacted us about Laura coming out to help with the animals, he wanted his kids to get the chance to meet his family. Let me tell you, having a vet here has been a godsend. Flora was getting older, and we had some issues with the tigers, and they just sort of stayed.”

“That’s just it?” Clint looked at Maggie, looking for any hint of tension or apprehension.

“That’s it, the Swordsman came back at a full time act three years ago,” she shrugged. “We all make mistakes Clint, you know that as much as anyone.” The archer nodded, but made no move to look over at his brother.

“I still don’t like it,” he said, folding his arms again.

“You don’t have to like it, young man,” Maggie stood up and kissed Clint on his cheek. “You do have to live with it. Now, I believe we have dinner to get made for the camp, and a show tonight, so make yourselves useful.”

“Yes, ma’am,” both Barton boys said in unison, moving towards the door. “Laura, why don’t you sit tonight out? I’m sure Darcy can help me with your chores.”

“That okay, Darce?” Laura asked, her hand still rubbing up and down her stomach.

“No problem,” she pushed off the couch and hooked her arm through Clint’s. “I just need a minute with this one.”

*****

Darcy pulled Clint around the back of the trailer, pushing him up against the side of the mobile home. He let himself get trapped between her arms, looking down with mild amusement at the woman in front of him, caging him with her body, a serious set to her features.

“I should have told you,” she deflated after a moment, her arms dropping to her side as she went to take a step back. Clint pulled her into a tight hug before she could move away. “I should have warned you, but I wanted you to see, I didn’t want to worry you on the phone and then have to get off.”

“No, you did right,” he mumbled into her hair, holding her tightly to him. “We can’t stay on the phone too long, and I would have been a mess all the way here, and I needed to concentrate with the rest of the team the way they are.”

“I worried about you, babe,” Darcy tucked her fingers into the loops of his pants, returning his tight embrace, despite the smell coming off his uniform.

“See,” he kissed her hair, pulling back just enough that she could get a good look at him. “You worried for nothing,” he watched in amusement as she pulled at his vest so she could get a look at the new skin on his side. She’d seen it already, seen it and tested it out, but something in the back of her mind still said it was new, and therefore vulnerable. “Can’t even feel the difference, can you?”

“If they’re sleeping here, some of them are gonna have to double up,” she peered around the trailer to where Steve and Natasha were talking quietly together, the rest of the team sitting around on hay bales looking uncomfortable and fidgety.

“Yeah,” Clint chuckled looking around the corner with her before pulling her back to their tiny bit of privacy. “That’s not gonna sell.”

“What about Nat and Steve?” Darcy asked, tipping her head to the side. She’d seen the way the Widow leaned into the Captain more when they were back at the Tower, little touches and light blushes from Steve when her hand lingered a little longer on his arm then was strictly polite. “How long has that been going on?”

“Has what?” Clint looked back around the corner; his eyes wide as he spotted his Captain causally settle his arm around Natasha’s shoulders, both talking amicably. He looked back at Darcy in horror.

“You are so cute,” she laughed, tugging him back from where he was clearly watching what he was sure was a private moment.

“Nat and…” he just looked at Darcy’s laughing face in confusion. “And Steve?”

“I’ll explain when you’re older, Hawkeye,” she pushed him back against the side of the trailer, her face serious again.

“Oh, okay,” Clint sighed, knowing the look on his girlfriend’s face.

“It’s bad, right?” Darcy asked, the archer’s face telling her everything she needed to know, the tightness at the corners of his eyes, the hollow look he got when he thought she wasn’t looking. Bad wasn’t even in the same ballpark as their current situation. “Nat seems really shaken.”

“Ultron has these allies, these, uh,” he let the wall behind him take more of his weight as he sagged between her arms. “Kids, they’re punks really. They carry a big damn stick and Nat took a serious hit.” He pulled his hand down his face and leaned his head back, his girlfriend curling against his chest. “Someone’s gonna have to teach ‘em some manners.”

“And that someone is going to be you,” she concluded, she pulled at the buckles along the back of his uniform, her fingers never stilling, wishing they could find somewhere really private so they could have some quality time where she could really inspect him thoroughly for injury. “I can’t think of anyone better.”

“You really think they need me that much?” Clint looked down at the top of Darcy head, her curls loose and catching at his uniform. He leaned down and placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

“I think they do,” she tipped her head back to look him in the eye. “They’re a mess,” she smiled tightly and accepted a light kiss against her lips, licking at the seam of his mouth before he pulled back, his head hitting the wall as he sighed. “They need someone like you more than I think they know, sometimes.”

“Yeah,” he pushed them both off the side of the trailer and looked back to the team. “I guess they’re my mess.”

“Our mess,” Darcy corrected her arm around his waist as she let him lead her to where they were all sitting. “You need to be sure that this team is ready when you guys go back out there and that they have your back. That they trust you to have theirs.” She looked at each of the Avengers, haunted looks clear on each of their faces as they sat in silence. “Mind stuff, you know how much it fucks you up.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Clint kissed her upturned lips and pulled her down into his lap as he joined the team. “So, who’s up for some forced manual labor?”

“Okay,” she smiled at the group of assembled Avengers, each looking fatigued and battle weary. “I’m going to go get the munchkin, you guys have fun playing circus.”

*****

Darcy rounded the big top tent, hearing the laughter of children and the unmistakable sound of water splashing on an unsuspecting victim. 

“I’m not going to lose my best agent,” to Darcy’s credit, she only jumped a little when Nicholas Fury fell into step with her. “Am I?"

“I don’t think Hill’s going anywhere, Nick,” she looked at him from the corner of her eye as she watched her daughter and the Barton cousins splashing each other with barely filled buckets of water and suds.

“I didn’t mean AD Hill, Mrs. Barton,” the Shield Director said, rolling his one good eye. “But you knew that.”

“I did,” Darcy turned to face the director, taking in his long leather coat and black trousers in the afternoon Iowa sun. It was still cool enough that he could get away with it, but she suspected he would have worn it anyway. “Clint hasn’t been one of your agents for a while,” she put her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun, meeting the man’s eyes before she looked back at the kids. “I’m sorry to say, but you’ve already lost him to the Avengers.” She started across the field towards the kids, knowing he would follow. “And it’s still Ms. Lewis, no matter what the Carter’s say. It’s way too early for a ring, let alone any ‘I do’s.’”

“Right,” Fury locked step with the brunette, staying silent for a few moments, seeming to mull over what he was going to say next. “You’re going to keep a good eye on them, they need it.”

“I will,” Darcy stopped far enough out that the kids surrounding the massive elephant couldn’t hear them. “They’re gonna need some down time after this.” She told him, searching his face for a reaction, but he just raised his brow. “Nearly omniscient robots are a bit stressful. I know Nat and Clint have had to pull out all their old spy tricks to keep all of them off the grid, and Ultron is still a step ahead at each turn. Add in characters as visible as Steve and Thor, they’re gonna need a break. A real one.” She set her hands on her hips and fully turned towards the director, catching and holding his gaze. “I’m talking sunny beaches and drinks with tiny umbrellas.”

“They need that, or you do?” Fury challenged, holding Darcy’s eye for a moment, when she didn't’ waver he just nodded.

She shrugged. “I could use a little R&R too,” she dropped her hands and walked towards the kids, Nick didn’t follow, but she knew she’d gotten her point across.

*****

“Daddy, daddy, daddy,” Clint could hear his little girl before he could even see her, standing and bracing for the onslaught of hurricane Hannah. The little Barton didn’t disappoint, crashing into her father at breakneck speed and giggling and he picked her up and swung her around. She hugged him tight, rubbing her face into his chest as he continued to spin them. Her little face scrunched up as she finally caught a whiff of her father’s uniform. “Oh my god, you smell worse than Flora’s poop!” Hannah wiggled in the archer's arms, trying to get away from the pungent odor. “Put me down,” she demanded. “Put me down, put me down,” she squirmed and held her nose until Clint set her back on her feet, quickly circling her mother and hiding there, with her fingers still pinching her nose shut.

“It might have been a little warmer than I’d like, on the mission,” Clint shrugged, and shared a small smile with Darcy. “And I pretty much haven’t changed since I left.”

“Or showered,” Darcy waved her hand in front of her face. “None of you have, I bet.” The Avengers that had been drafted into dinner duty all just shrugged. “Where were you guys, anyway?”

“Classified,” Steve washed his hands under the camp sinks set out behind one of the smaller tents.

“South Africa,” Natasha rolled her eyes at Steve’s indignant look.

“Natasha,” the Captain’s soapy hands crossed over his chest, leaving wet trails down the front of his uniform.

The Widow shrugged and turned back towards the towel rack to dry her hands. “Thor would tell her anyway.”

“We really need to talk about the meaning of ‘classified,’” he grumbled and went about re-washing his hands.

“If it makes you feel better,” Darcy carefully extracted her child from around her waist and pulled down a couple of cutting boards for Natasha and Steve to chop veggies. “I’ve signed so many NDA’s that most of what you tell me is probably already covered.” She quietly sent Hannah back to the Barton’s trailer with a look. “Plus, Thor tells Jane and I everything anyway.”

“Right,” Steve just huffed and dried his hands on the towel that Natasha held out to him. “So, Clint, what are we doing for accommodations? Can the circus handle the extra bodies?” He handed the towel back to the Widow and went over to where Darcy was setting out the washed produce for them to cut up. “I want to be battle ready at a moment’s notice.”

“Not until you have all showered, slept, and regrouped,” Darcy held the knife she had been offering to the Captain away from the super soldier. “I don’t want you going back out there like this,” she waved at the group of them.

“Yes, mom,” Nat dropped a kiss on the apple of Darcy’s cheek and nimbly took the knife from the other woman’s fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love your kudos and comments. Thank you.


	20. Plans and Better Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all my American readers, Happy Fourth of July Weekend! To everyone else, happy weekend! I think either today or tomorrow or something is Canada Day, too, and I apologize for not actually knowing. If I'm not totally off the mark, Happy Canada Day to my Canadian readers.
> 
> As always, thank you to my beta, ktravierso, without whom I would have a lot more run on sentences, and inappropriate contractions.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 20: Plans and Better Plans

The Carter’s were gracious enough to give up their own trailer to the Avengers, who bunked down in the two bedrooms and on the couches in the living room. Hannah curled up on an old air mattress in the bigger of the two bedrooms, fast asleep after a long day of playing with Grandpa Joe and her cousins. Her tiny snores were the only sound in the room, as Clint lay awake, his hands folded behind his head and his girlfriend curled into his side. He looked carefully over Darcy's head to try and catch a glimpse at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock, jostling her as he turned.

“You gotta sleep, Hawk,” she whispered, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “You got a long day tomorrow if you guys are going to try and get back on Ultron’s trail before the circus moves.”

“I know, darling,” his hands carded through her hair, shifting her closer to him so she lay half over his chest. “Just hard to get my brain to shut down.”

“Too bad we’ve got a munchkin in here,” Darcy kissed the tip of his chin. “I have some ideas that would absolutely shut off your brain.”

“Oh man,” Clint groaned pushing his face into the top of her head and breathing in the warm lavender scent of her. “You’re gonna have to keep that idea nice and warm until this whole shit storm’s over, cause there is nothing I want more right now then to get a little lost in you.”

“We can always sneak out back,” she kissed her way down the side of his neck, her leg shifting suggestively between his. “There’s a little clearing in the woods, it's far enough from the big top, no one would hear us.”

“Am I detecting a little exhibition kink there, babe?” he growled and pulled her fully over him, straddling one leg. “Think we can get out of this trailer without anyone noticing?”

“Everyone but Nat,” Darcy shrugged already rolling out of bed to grab her shoes and check on their daughter. “But she’ll just want to make sure I’ve got condoms.”

“Should I worry that you seem to be stealing my best friend,” Clint shoved his feet into his combat boots, not bothering to lace them. “And apparently you know things I don’t.”

“The Steve thing?” she slowly pulled the door open and peeked out. She could see the shine of Natasha’s eyes across the room, but held up the small foil packet she hadn’t quite pocketed yet. The assassin winked and Darcy pulled Clint down the hall and out the door. “I’m just more observant than you up close. What is it you say? ‘I see better from a distance?’ You’re too close to Nat to see these things.”

“I figured you out,” Clint mumbled, letting her pull him around the circus tent and into the woods.

“I helped a lot, trust me,” Darcy winked and pushed him up against a tree. “Now hush, you don’t want anyone coming out to see what all the noise is about, do you?”

“I can be quiet,” he smirked at her. “Can you?”

“I have a way of finding out,” she told him between kisses as she worked the tie on his sweats. “But first I think we need to release a little tension.” She pushed down his pants, pulling his boxers with them and knelt in front of him.

“Fuck, Darce,” Clint carded his hands through her hair, pulling it away from her face. “You release too much tension and there won’t be a round two.”

“Oh trust me,” she licked a stripe along the underside of his cock. “I want you inside of me before you head back out there,” she sucked the head into her mouth and swirled her tongue around him. “Just a little taste first.”

“I’m so on board,” he let his head hit the bark of the tree behind him, his fingers fisted in her dark curls as she worked him over. “I missed you babe,” he sighed. “Not just for this, even if it’s awesome, but for everything.”

“Missed you too, Hawk,” Darcy smiled up at him before taking him back between her lips and swallowing him down as far as she could.

“I think I’m gonna need you to stop now,” Clint groaned out as her lips connected with his pubic bone for the third time. The feeling of her throat contracting around him was getting to be too much.

“So, I didn’t think this completely through,” Darcy confessed as she pulled away, sitting back on her heels and looking around the small clearing. “Cause I’m not too keen on laying on the ground all naked, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to either.”

“We got a nice big tree right here,” he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder, trying to catch his breath. “I mean we’ll have to go slow so you don’t get tree burn or whatever, but it’s do able, plus it’ll tire me out real well.”

“If you drop me you aren’t getting a blow job for like a month,” she let him help her up and pull down her sleep shorts with her underwear and dropping them over his sweats so they wouldn’t get any dirt on them. She looked down at them and tried not to think about the bugs that probably lived in the woods, and could very easily make a home on her clothing, and instead focused on the half naked man in front of her. The half that was naked was very nice. For that matter, so was the half that was still wearing his shirt.

“Trust me, darling,” Clint lifted her into his arms and pushed her back against the tree, hooking her legs over his arms. “I won't drop you,” he kissed her gently as he rolled the condom over himself and slipped his fingers between her legs. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Darcy moaned as he let her slide slowly down his cock, holding her firmly in his arms as her shirt caught against the bark of the tree. “Feels good,” she told him as he paused inside of her, taking a moment to let her adjust as he kissed along the column of her neck. “But if you don’t start moving, I’m going to get grumpy.”

“So pushy,” his chuckle turned into a groan as he worked himself out of her before slowly pushing back in. “Love you, Mrs. Barton.”

“Love you too,” she sighed and canted her hips so he pushed against the right spot inside of her, making her shudder down to her toes. “Now shut up and fuck me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Clint sealed his lips over hers and put the muscles built from long hours at the range to work.

*****

Clint lead Darcy back into the trailer as quietly as he could an hour later, feeling sore and relaxed in the best way possible, and more than happy to crawl between the sheets once again, sure that sleep would follow. Darcy nodded to the Widow who still lay awake in the living room, holding the guard as the rest of the team slept around her.

‘You should sleep too,’ Clint signed to his friend.

‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead,’ Natasha signed back. ‘You two have fun.’

‘You want details, Nat?’ he asked. ‘First…’

‘Nope,’ she signed back quickly. ‘There are somethings that need to be kept to yourself, Hawk.’

‘Good night, try and get some shut eye,’ Clint conceded, and ducked into the master bedroom behind his girlfriend.

“She’s gonna stay up all night, isn’t she?” Darcy laid a kiss against Hannah’s forehead before kicking off her shoes and crawling into bed.

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “It’s what she does when she’s in a new place, unless someone else takes watch. Plus, she’s all shaken up by whatever she saw.” Darcy just nodded and pulled him down onto the bed with her. “Good night, darling.”

“Night, Hawk.”

*****

Nick was in the kitchen when Darcy stumbled out of bed the next morning, little Hannah up on a kitchen chair next to him, quietly stirring a pot filled with oatmeal. “Good morning, Mrs. Barton,” he smiled tightly and handed her a mug filled with black coffee. “I trust you slept well?”

“Is there anything you don’t know, Nick,” she took a careful slip of the coffee and kissed the back of her daughter’s hair. “Morning, Niblet.”

“Did you and daddy get married last night?” Hannah tipped her head to the side. “Cause I woked up and you weren’t there and Aunt Nat said you had important mommy and daddy stuff and you’d be happier when you got back.”

“No, baby,” Clint took a mug from his boss and kissed his daughter. “We just had to have a little talk, and we didn’t want to wake you.”

“Okay,” Hannah turned back to the pot she’d been stirring. “But when you do marry mommy, I get to be there, right? Cause everyone keeps calling her Mrs. Barton, and I like it, I wanna be Hannah Barton.”

“You don’t like Lewis anymore?” Darcy feigned hurt, ruffling her daughter’s hair when the girl started to look distressed. “It’s okay, Niblet, Barton’s a nice name.” She took a long drink from the coffee cup, feeling the warm liquid and caffeine starting to take effect.

“I know enough,” Nick winked and leaned back against the cabinets. “Miss Hannah, do you think you might like to take your breakfast over to your Uncle’s, so your parents and I could have a little talk?”

“Aunt Laura will make me toast,” Hannah jumped off the chair and hugged the old spy, earning herself a fond smile and a pat on the head. “I don’t like oatmeal anyway.”

“If you say so,” he turned to Clint and Darcy, who both watched in amusement at the interaction between their daughter and the Director of Shield. “Round up the troops, we need to talk.”

*****

The Avengers crowded into the small living room where most of them had been sleeping the night before, cups of coffee and bowls of oatmeal forgotten around the room as they gave Director Fury their attention.

“Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time,” Nick took a sip of his coffee and looked around the room. Nearly every member of the team looked haggard and uncomfortable. He noted how haunted his spider looked before he glanced down at her fingers, subtly stroking against the Captain’s. “My contacts all say he’s building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don’t think it’s just one thing.”

“What about Ultron himself?” Steve asked, sitting more forward on the couch, but leaving his hand back where Natasha let their fingertips touch.

“Ah,” Nick put his mug down and nodded. “He’s easy to track, he’s everywhere,” he sipped at the lukewarm coffee, suppressing a wince at the deepening of the bitter taste as it cooled. “Guy’s multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn’t help us get an angle on any of his plans, though.”

“He still going after launch codes?” Tony swirled the liquid in his mug around, Darcy was half convinced he’d replaced the coffee with whiskey the way he’d been drinking it, but her friend’s eyes were too clear for that to be the case.

“Yes, he is,” Nick confirmed, doing his own assessment of the billionaire, finding him to be satisfactory, all things considered. “But he’s not making any headway.”

“I cracked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare,” Tony confessed, confused at Ultron’s inability to easily do the same.

“Yeah, well,” Nick finished off the dregs from his cup and put it down on the counter behind him. “I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that.”

“NEXUS?” Steve asked, pulling his hand away from the Widow to steeple under his chin as he leaned forward on his knees.

“It’s the world internet hub in Oslo,” Bruce explained, pushing his own empty mug away and giving the oatmeal a experimental stir. “Every byte of data flows though there, fastest access on earth.”

“So what’d they say?” Clint swallowed hard around a rubbery bite of oats, his arm tight around Darcy, his eyes on Nat’s fingers that were picking at the cushions behind the Captain.

“He’s fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed,” Nick looked at the archer, seeing where his eyes were turned, intrigued. It wasn’t like Clint to not know something about his best friend, spoke of how distracted he’d been by his new family. The director wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, yet.

“By whom?” Tony asked, bringing them all back to the real question.

“Parties unknown,” Nick confessed.

“Do we have an ally?” Natasha pulled her hand back into her lap and cocked her head to the side, catching Clint’s eye.

“Ultron’s got an enemy,” the director told her, shrugging. “That’s not the same thing. Still, I’d pay folding money to know who it is.”

“I might need to visit Oslo,” Tony looked like he wanted to launch off the couch and do just that right that moment. “Find our ‘unknown.’”

“Well, this is good times, boss,” Nat turned back to Nick, fixing her eyes to his one good one, giving him a little half smile for just a moment. “But I was kinda hoping when I saw you, you’d have more than that.”

“I do, I have you,” Nick let her lock her eyes on him, let her see what he had hidden that he knew she’d read just by the micro expressions he didn’t bother hiding. “Back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world,” he broke eye contact and looked at each member of the team in turn, ending with Darcy. “So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard.”

“Steve doesn’t like that kind of language,” Natasha teased, not missing the way the director was looking at her new little sister.

“You know what, Romanoff,” Steve pinched her just above her knee, getting a mischievous smile in return.

“So,” Nick prompted. “What does he want?”

“To become better,” the Captain didn’t even hesitate. “Better than us. He keeps building bodies.”

“Person bodies,” Tony jumped on Steve’s line of thinking. “The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking we’re outmoded,” he snapped his fingers, trying to chase the idea that was starting to form in the back of his mind. “But he keeps coming back to it.”

“When you two programmed him to protect the human race,” Natasha muttered, her fingers finding Steve’s again on the couch. “You amazingly failed.”

“They don’t need to be protected,” Bruce’s eyes found the small stained glass butterfly that hung in the front window of the trailer, the sunlight staining the carpet in a brilliant rainbow. “They need to evolve,” he looked straight at Tony. “Ultron’s going to evolve.”

“How?” the director asked.

“Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?” Bruce pushed himself off the loveseat, nearly knocking Tony’s coffee out of his hand as he made a hasty retreat to the back room. Tony followed not more than a second behind, his mug clattering on the coffee table as everyone watched the two scientists leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please take a moment to stop and thank my muse for not running away and joining the circus herself this weekend!


	21. Back into the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter took a little longer than I expected. Mostly not due to the chapter itself, though its longer than usual. It was a rough week at work, and then there was a sick kid, and a stomach bug or something on my part. But, here it is!
> 
> Thank you Kacie, for putting up with my whinny bitch self when it comes to long scenes and other people's dialogue.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 21: Back into the Fire

The entire camp was bustling with activity, everyone was pulling up their stakes and getting ready to head to the next location, and not one of them noticed as the assembled Avengers did the same. Darcy stood against the side of the Barton’s trailer with Clint’s arm around her shoulder, soaking up the last of his time before he had to head back out. He leaned over and kissed against the side of her head, his nose burying itself for a moment in the dark curls at her forehead. “Smell good,” he murmured against her temple, placing another kiss there. “Don’t think I can ever get enough.”

“The things you say, Mr. Barton,” Darcy hugged him tighter, her arms locked around his waist, and her face tucked into his neck. “Now that you’ve showered, you don’t smell so bad yourself.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Barton. No guarantees once I get home,” Clint smiled into her hair, the long strands tickling his nose. “You and Hannah gonna be okay to travel for a while.”  
“Until you call us home,” she nodded. “Just don’t stay gone too long.”

“We’ll all be back in the Tower before we know it,” he let one of his hands slip down off of her shoulder, letting it land on the small of her back, holding her close. “Don’t you worry too much.”

“It’s my job,” Darcy tipped her head back and pouted her lips up at him. “Not gonna be the same without Jarvis,” she accepted a kiss against her mouth, her eyes locked onto her boyfriends. “J and I bonded.”

“Tony’ll figure something out,” Clint patted her back and nodded over her head. “Speaking of,” he turned Darcy around, her back resting against his chest as the rest of the team fell around them to stand in a loose circle, faces grim.

“I’ll take Natasha and Clint,” Steve looked at Tony who nodded, tucking a bit of tech he had been fiddling with into his pocket.

“Alright, strictly recon,” the billionaire looked at Steve as if he could see straight into his head. “I’ll hit the NEXUS, I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

“If Ultron is really building a body...” Steve countered and Tony concurred.

“He’ll be more powerful than any of us,” he sighed and pulled the tech back out of his back pocket and twirled it in his hands, thinking. “Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot.”

“You know,” he let his weight fall heavily against the trailer next to Natasha, hands pulling down over his face. “I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me.”

Nick ignored the banter between the men and looked over at Bruce, who was tucked backwards on an abandoned dining room chair, probably from the main room of the Barton’s place waiting to be packed for the move. “I’ll drop Banner off at the Tower,” his eyes swept back over the group to land on Tony, who was suddenly listening again. “Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Potts?”

“She’s all yours, but I want her back in one piece,” he raised a brow at the director and waited for confirmation. “What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” Nick told him, his face giving nothing away. “Something dramatic, I hope.”

By some kind of silent agreement, the meeting, if it could have even been call that, broke up. Steve stalked away back to the QuinJet with Natasha following, a duffle bag slung over her shoulder, and a grim set to her features. Bruce shuffled off with Tony, accepting the tech that Tony had been messing about with, and started poking at it absently as he listened to the billionaire.

“I’ll move all my stuff as soon as this is done,” Clint turned her back to him and kissed her nose then her lips, lingering for only a long moment. “I’ve been thinking,” he rolled his eyes at the tip of her head. “We could knock out that wall between the kitchen and living room,” he ran his fingers over the top hem of her jeans, walking her backwards toward the stairs to his brother’s trailer. “Give us clear sight lines through the living space. That way you can see Hannah when you’re cooking.”

“Talk to Tony,” Darcy shrugged, carefully stepping up the first step. “And no, you may not do it on your own.”

“You know, my place is just above yours,” he nodded his head back and forth. “We could just put a hole in the ceiling and some stairs. Make it one big place. No moving required.”

“Whatever makes you happy, Hawk, so long as you clear it with Tony first,” she laced her fingers through his back belt loops and pulled him flush against her, his chin resting just above her breasts, head tipped back and looking at her. “I can’t wait. Just want my family home again.”

“Me either,” Clint used both hands to pull her face down to his, running his lips over hers before claiming them, pulling her full bottom lip between both of his. “I’ll call as soon as I can, I promise.”

“I love you,” Darcy dipped back in for another long, slow kiss before pushing away. “Go say your good-byes to Hannah. We’ll be waiting for you.”

“I love you, too,” he was reluctant to drop her hand, dragging it out until just their fingertips were touching, then he turned and walked around the side of the trailer to find his daughter, forcing himself not to look back.

*****

Darcy watched as the QuinJet took off, Hannah held tightly in her arms as the aircraft disappeared behind its cloak and was gone.

“Daddy will be home soon,” Hannah dropped her little head against Darcy’s shoulder, her arms around her mother's neck as Darcy stared off where she imagined that the jet had gone. “Don’t worry too much, it makes my tummy rumbly when you worry.”

“I’ll try not to worry, bug,” Darcy bounced the girl higher on her hip and took a long deep breath. “Daddy’s gonna come live with us when we get home.”

“Really?” her daughters little fingers tightened around her shoulder, her happy grin pulling its twin from Darcy’s lips. “Did he buy you a pretty ring?”

“No baby,” she turned and walked back to where Barney and Laura were waiting. “But I think it's time that Daddy lived with us, even without the ring.”

“I think so too,” Hannah nodded sagely before wiggling to be let down, running off to her cousins, presumably to tell them of their new family development.

“Cherry’s all hooked up,” Barney lifted his far arm for Darcy to slip under, his other arm around his wife, who smiled warmly at her. “We need to head out if we’re going to have daylight to set up camp.” Darcy just nodded and let her brother-in-law steer her towards the trailer.

*****

Darcy sat in the dark bedroom, her body swaying along with the gentle rocking of the trailer as Barney drove them down the highway towards the next stop on the circus’ circuit. Hannah was fast asleep, her tiny head tucked tight against Darcy’s hip, her tiny snores barely audible over the sound of the engine and the wind rushing by. She watched as the little girl slept, tucking a stray curl back behind her ear and sighing. She leaned back against the wall, taking in the vibrations that rattled her teeth and hitched the breath in her lungs, and looked over to the phone that was sitting on the nightstand, the power off, before she closed her eyes and let a silent tear drop from her eye and slip down her cheek.

*****

Clint kept the QuinJet on a tight formation around the roof of the U-Gin Genetic Research Lab, watching as Steve wrenched open the door that the Archer was more than sure was locked, and disappeared from view. “Two minutes,” Steve’s voice came over the radio sounding a little metallic between the comm link that was fed through his headset and his hearing aids. “Stay close,” the soldier said unnecessarily. It wasn’t like Clint was going anywhere without his team. He could hear the Captain running down stairs and working his way through the lab below, his breath huffing in Clint’s ear. “Dr. Cho!”

“He’s uploading himself into the body,” Clint could hear Helen’s voice though Steve’s comm, sounding very small and far away. He flicked a couple of switches on the radio panel to see if he could get better signal.

“Where?” Steve’s voice was loud and clear. Actually a little too loud.

“The real power is inside the Cradle,” he could hear Steve shuffling around and pulling Helen close as they made their way through the lab. “The gem, its power is uncontainable,” more shuffling. “You can’t just blow it up,” no that would be too easy, come on Steve, you know that. “You have to get the Cradle to Stark.”

“First I have to find it,” Steve grumbled, the sound of metal hitting concrete sounded through the comms.

“Go,” Helen told him.

“Did you guys copy that?” Clint could almost see Steve standing there, one hand up to his ear like an action movie.

“We did,” he rolled his eyes and looked over to Natasha where she was seated in front of her work station.

“I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest,” she looked up to where Clint was watching her. “That could be him.”

“There,” he pointed out the window to a truck leaving the back dock of the lab. “It’s the truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap,” Natasha jumped out of her seat and ran to the back of the jet as Clint pulled it around to get a better visual. “On the loop by the bridge. It’s them, I got three with the Cradle, one in the cab,” he flicked switches and brought the front of the truck into his sights. “I could take out the driver.”

“Negative!” Steve breathed heavily through the comms, Clint could see him moving, but his focus wasn’t on the Captain. “If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city.” Steve grunted and Clint could only imagine him jumping something that would have killed the archer. “We need to draw out Ultron,” Steve landed on the roof of the truck. Yep, Clint might have been able to make that jump, but he would definitely have been worse for wear when he landed.

He watched as Steve confronted Ultron, their small figures standing on the truck as it barreled down the highway. “No,” Clint could just make out the glass on metal voice of the robotic body through Steve’s comms, still dialed up to eleven. “No, no, no, no. Leave me alone!”

Watching the Captain fight from a distance was a beautiful thing, Steve might not have been classically trained in any kind of combat, but years fighting alongside the other Avengers had given him a motley assortment of moves that all seemed to flow through the super soldier into something resembling dance. Steve grunted as the truck door he was clinging to was blasted open, flapping the Captain in the wind like a paper doll. “Well,” his voice was strained through the comms, and Clint fought to keep him in his sights while trying to bring the jet into position to drop Natasha. “He’s definitely unhappy!” Steve growled, trying to pull himself back up onto the top of the truck. “I’m gonna try and keep him that way.”

“You’re not a match for him, Cap,” Clint watched as Steve struggled with getting back up on the truck as Ultron did a decent job of keeping him down.

“Thanks, Barton,” the Captain dodged a blast from the usurped Legionnaire suit and managed to pull himself back up on the roof.

“You know what’s in that Cradle?” the archer could hear Ultron over the howling wind, watching the two bodies on the truck circling each other. “The power to make real change, and that terrifies you.”

“I wouldn’t call it a comfort,” Steve takes a swing at the robot, his shield making a graceful arch as he tries to dislodge Ultron.

“Stop it,” the shield went over the side of the truck and hit the pavement.

“We got a window,” Clint called over his shoulder to his partner, his eyes carefully on the highway in front of him, holding the QuinJet as steady as he could while he flicked switches and did quick calculations in his head. “Four, three,” he lowered the ramp and said a silent prayer. “Give ‘em hell.” He pulled the jet back up from the highway as Nat landed safely.

“I’m always picking up after you boys,” Natasha tutted, holding Steve’s shield over the handlebars of her bike, weaving in and out of traffic.

“They’re heading under the overpass,” Clint pulled the jet up tracking the truck as it disappeared. “I’ve got no shot.”

“Which way?” the Widow asked, dodging around cars and trucks alike, trying to see her quarry.

“Hard right,” he told her, giving himself time to take a calming breath. “Now.”

“Out of the way!” Natasha screamed over the comms. “Coming through,” why didn’t people move when they saw a chick on a bike speeding towards them, it fucking boggled Clint’s mind, and he had seen it too often to count. “Sorry, coming through!”

“Come on!” Steve’s grunting over the comms were getting more labored, worrying the archer as he continued to pace the truck.

“Clint, can you draw out the guards?” Natasha asked.

“Let’s find out,” he pulled up his heads up display, sighting the Iron Legion inside the truck, letting off a few bursts to bring their attention to him. They turn to him and head out of the truck.

“Beep beep,” Natasha shouts, clearly annoyed with the pedestrian’s miniscule survival instinct.

“Cap!” the legionnaires didn’t move as far from the truck as Clint would have liked. “Keep him occupied!”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” Steve swung at Ultron, who’s attention turned back towards the Captain. The Iron Legion gripped truck and lifted it off the ground.

“The package is airborne,” Clint circled the jet and brought the truck more clearly in his sights, fingering the trigger to the front guns. “I have a clean shot.”

“Negative,” Natasha shouted through the comm. “I am still in the truck.”

“What the hell are you…?” he dropped his hand away from the trigger and tried to peer into the back of the truck.

“Just be ready,” Natasha’s voice was strained, but the truck wasn’t in the right position for him to see her. “I’m sending the package to you.”

“How do you want me to take it?” Clint asked, inwardly cringing as soon as the words left his mouth, Nat was not going to let that one go.

“Uh,” she grunted. “You might wish you hadn’t asked that.” He just shrugged, even though he was very aware of the fact that she couldn’t see him, catching onto what she was trying for, spinning the QuinJet and opening the back ramp again, reversing the engines so he could keep up with the truck flying backwards.

“Nat,” he struggled to hold the jet steady, waiting for the drop. “We gotta go.” He felt the weight of the Cradle land in the cargo hold of the jet and pulled up the ramp, turning the jet back the right way and peering over his shoulder. “Nat!” he couldn’t see her behind him. “Cap, you see Nat?”

“If you have the package, get it to Stark,” Steve said over the radio. Clint continued to search for his partner, his eyes canvassing the area around the harbor where he had been when the Cradle dropped into the hold. “Go!” Clint slammed the flat of his hands on the dash in frustration, and pulled the jet around, heading towards New York.

*****

The Tower felt empty and cold. Clint sat in a dark corner of the penthouse, surrounded by glass and metal, at home, but feeling far adrift. He fingered his phone, spinning it slowly in his hands as he checked his watch. After long minutes of silence, just the click of the glass screen against his nails he unlocked the cell and opened his messenger app. He banged his head against the wall as he sent Darcy a hasty message to call, hoping he made it before she shut off her phone again for the day. Long slow breaths in and out made his head light, but did nothing the quell the pit of anxiety in his stomach. 

Darcy fiddled with her burner a world away, sitting on the couch of the Barton’s trailer, knowing she should really shut it off and make coffee, but counting out a full extra minute. Clint hadn’t left a message at all the day before, a full day without anything. She sighed, unable to put off switching the phone off again any longer, when a message popped up. She sank down into the couch cushions in pure relief and opened the message.

Clint flicked the call accept and held the phone to his ear, just listening to Darcy breath for a moment.

“I’m here,” her voice was quiet and thick with sleep and concern. “Anything you need,” she took a long breath that shuddered in her chest at the end. “I’m here.”

“I need you in New York,” he forced the words out of his mouth, even as they stuck in his throat.

“You know I’d be there in a heartbeat,” Darcy told him softly, the sound of her voice releasing some of the tension that he held in his chest. “But I gotta be here for Hannah, and you gotta save the world for us.”

“I know,” Clint tipped his head back against the wall, resisting the urge to bang his head against the glass again. “I just wish I had you right now.” He took a long deep breath and rubbed his free hand over his face. “Ultron’s got Nat.” His gut clenched when Darcy gasped. “Cap tried, but they were gone before he could do anything.”

“I wish I could be there with you, too,” Darcy finally said after a long silence. “I love you, Hawk. You’ll find Nat, she’s a tough bitch, she’s not going to go down without a fight.”

“Yeah,” he grunted as he stood, rubbing his fingers through his hair, making it stick up in spiky tufts. “I got some rocks to look under.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Call you soon, love you girls.” He leaned in the doorway of Tony’s lab, watching the two scientists buzzing around the Cradle, and ended the call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to write, cause it's what fuels my bunnies.


	22. Caution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!
> 
> Thank you to my beta, Kacie for taking the time to edit. Love!

Handle With Care

Chapter 22: Caution

Clint sat with his back to the room, an old cracked arrow spinning between his fingers as he pulled up the sensor data from the QuinJet, trying to figure out a trajectory that could give him a lead on Natasha. He scratched the back of his neck with the nock of the arrow, letting out a long sigh and pulling up the external camera feed.

“Anything on Nat?” Bruce asked from where he had been working with Tony across the room, a StarkPad in his hand as he circled the Cradle.

Clint sighed again and turned off the computer, nothing useful was coming from the data he had gone over a hundred times. He tossed the cracked arrow into the closest trash bin, not even bothering to watch and see if it had gone in. It had.

“Haven’t heard,” Tony replied, completely distracted with whatever he was pulling out of his obnoxious genius ass. “But she’s alive, or Ultron’d be rubbing our faces in it.”

“This is sealed tight,” Clint pushed at the cover to the cradle. The thing looked more like a coffin then something that would give life. He knocked on the lid and watched Banner flinch a little, giving him a satisfied, if tired smirk.

“We’re going to need to access the program,” the scientist flashed Clint the pad he was holding, before letting his fingers fly over the screen. “Break it down from within.”

“Hm,” Tony was gathering something on his own machine, a thoughtful and interested look on his face. That look rarely was good news for anyone within a fifty foot radius of the mechanic. Tony turned something around in his hand and then threw it back onto his pad. “Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?” he asked distractedly.

Clint nodded and tapped his fingers again on the top of the Cradle, letting Tony’s idea take root and blossom. “There’s some nets I can cast,” he shrugged before looking through the floor of the lab to some old style radio equipment. “Yeah, alright,” he pulled some very old conversations he’d had with his best friend out of the storage in his memory and dusted them off. “I’ll find her.” He nodded one last time to the scientists and took the stairs down to where Tony had stored the equipment he would need.

*****

The lower level of the lab was much darker than the upper floor, but that suited Clint just fine. He pulled out the old equipment and ran his hand over the top, only a little surprised that it wasn’t covered in a thick layer of dust. Say what you want about Tony and his overly boisterous personality, but when it came to any type of machine, no matter how old, he took care of it. Clint plugged in the old radio equipment and it fired right up, dials alight with warm yellow bulbs, none of that white light shit that his phone and StarkPad flooded his brain with when they turned on. He fiddled with a couple of dials and tried to remember the exact frequencies that Natasha had drilled into his head more than ten years before. He plugged in a pair of thick headphones and sat back, pulling in a long slow breath. He could do this.

*****

Clint surfaced from his search to the sound of the alarm on his watch going off. He shook the cobwebs out of his head and turned off the beeping and pulled his phone out of his pocket, shifting around to dislodge the wide screen from where it had settled deep in his cargo pants. The screen lit up with a burst of color as he thumbed the power button. His burner didn’t have the background set to a picture of his girls, and he found that he needed to see them with an ache that burned in his chest. He could almost hear Nat scolding him. Those kind of feelings, those needs were for after the mission, he needed to keep his head in the game if he was going to be able to find his best friend, if she was even reaching out.

He shook that thought away, if she was alive and able, she would be reaching out and would fully expect him to find any trace of her. Once the phone was fully booted up he called Darcy. Nat might think it was sentiment, but he knew that at the end of the day, his love for his girls was his strength.

“Hey, Mrs. Hawk,” he sighed, hearing the sounds of the circus through the other end of the call.

“Hey hero,” he could hear her smile in her voice, his chest blossoming with something that felt like the cross between a good night’s sleep and the ache from a hard circuit at the gym, maybe a few rounds with Nat. “Any news?”

“Nothing yet,” Clint sighed and leaned back in his chair, cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder. His fingers walked over the dials on the radio, his eyes locked on the needles, waiting for a flicker. “The science boys are playing with the Cradle, nothing so far.” He went for another dial, turning it so slowly his fingers hurt, and he had to force the muscles in his arm to hold steady. “I’m looking under rocks.”

“If anyone can find a needle in a haystack, it’s you,” Darcy told him, completely confident in her words.

“Is that some kind of circus joke, sweetheart?” he teased, letting his fingers fall away from the equipment, adjusting his phone, switching ears.

“Nope,” she laughed. God he had missed that sound. “Just saying, out of everyone in the world, you know her best.”

“I do,” Clint leaned forward in his seat, taking his eyes off the dials for a moment, his free hand dangling between his splayed thighs.

“Let me know,” her voice was soft, full of emotion and indescribable comfort. Darcy loved Nat, too. Maybe as much as he did, and that was a revelation in itself. “I love you, Hawk.”

“Love you too, babe,” he rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the prickling at the corners of his eyes that he couldn’t indulge in, not if he was going to keep it together. “Give Merida a kiss for me.”

“I always do,” the call ended, the abrupt disconnect from the bright sounds filtering through from his childhood home, plunged him into a silence that pressed around him. He turned off the phone and pulled the headphones over his ears, eyes locked back on the dials.

*****

Darcy leaned against a tent pole, the canvas still sitting gathered, ready and waiting to be pulled into place. She took a long deep breath of the dust filled air, the smell of animal and hay saturated the air around her. She had spent most of her life in the city, but she could definitely understand what Clint loved about this life. There was a different kind of hustle, filled with hard physical labor and a soft spoken feeling of family and comfort in each day. She watched as her daughter chased her cousins around the open area between the animal cages, a little wagon filled with hay and oats for the horses, and carrots for her favorite dapple gray pony. Laura promised to teach Hannah how to ride the little pony, but only if she took responsibility of feeding and brushing him. Hannah had agreed enthusiastically. Darcy grinned as she watched her little girl offer the juicy orange vegetable to the gray pony, who nimbly picked it from her daughter's fingers.

The watch on Darcy’s wrist beeped quietly, pulling her out of her revery. She pressed the button on the side of the watch and looked at the display. It didn’t feel like eight in the morning, but then she had gotten used to rising at five and had long since finished her morning coffee and started her day. She pulled the burner phone out of her pocket, she flipped open the top and pressed the power button, watching the cheap phone’s logo light up and the progress bar slowly creep along the bottom of the screen. It rang almost as soon as the main screen flashed.

“Hey babe,” she breathed into the receiver, letting the tent pole take more of her weight as she breathed in.

“Hey,” Clint’s voice was soft and low, the edge of exhaustion curling around the end of the word.

“What’s wrong?” Darcy slid slowly to the floor, not even bothering to worry about the small amount of dust she kicked up and her butt slid the last few inches and she dropped to the ground.

“The kids,” she could almost hear him rubbing his face with his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose, and working his thumb and forefinger into the corners of his eyes. “You know the ones I told you about? They’re here, Cap brought them back with him.”

“You okay with that?” not counting the fact that they were just teens, the girl was full of mind control magic, and her man was still trying to keep his head around the fact that what Loki had done to him wasn’t his fault.

“They’re just kids,” he sighed. So it was the other problem weighing down on her archer. “Shouldn’t be fighting in this.”

“Sometimes it isn’t about should or shouldn’t, Hawk,” she reasoned, her voice quiet as she watched their daughter skip delightedly away from the horse's paddock, and across the yard.

“I know,” Clint sounded wearier than she’d ever heard him, and he hadn’t said word one about Nat. Darcy didn’t want to ask, she might not like the answer if her Hawk wasn’t saying anything.

“You bring them out with you, you keep them safe,” she said into the phone, waiting for his affirmation, which came as a grunt. “You know the others aren’t so good with that, they don’t have kids, and the spider’s not there to beat sense into the scientist and Cap.”

“You got any suggestions?” the deep gravel of his voice brought a smile to her face.

“I was working on a present for you,” Darcy closed her eyes and thought back to what she had been piecing together with Jarvis for the past month. It was finished, but she had been waiting to give it to him on his birthday. “It’s down in my apartment, tucked in the back of my closet. It’s done,” she hadn’t had the chance to get the patches on the shoulders, but they weren’t really needed, but Cap had Avengers patches on his suit, so she thought her Hawk needed them, too. “Give the boy your old gear. Find something of Nat’s for the girl.”

“Only if they insist on going out,” Clint said firmly, his deep voice turning into a growl. Maybe he had found Nat, cause he sounded like something was coming soon, that there had been discussion of going somewhere, and he didn’t want to say.

“They will,” she tucked the phone against her ear and rubbed both hands into her temples. “You would.”

“I love you,” was his only response, a deep sigh puffing against the receiver of the phone, sounding like static for a moment on her end.

“Love you too, Hawk,” Darcy breathed, listening to him breath for a moment before the call was ended.

*****

The assembled Avengers stood in the destroyed living room of the penthouse, gathered around the Cradle’s creation.

“What’s he waiting for?” Tony peered at the purple and green creation in front of him, head tilted to the side as he tried to parse what he was seeing.

“You,” the resemblance to Jarvis’ voice was both a comfort and deeply disconcerting, and by the looks the android was getting from the others, he wasn't alone in that thinking.

“Where?” Bruce asked, his hands tucked into his sleeves, the ends curled tightly into his fist.

“Sokovia,” Clint itched to pull out his phone and update Darcy, let her know they were ready to move, really ready this time, but he knew he couldn’t, and the idea of keeping her in the dark pulled at something deep in him that he wasn’t sure he was ready to look too closely at.

“If we’re wrong about you,” Bruce addressed the being that they had created, or partially created. Helped create? “If you’re the monster that Ultron made you to be…”

“What will you do?” the creature tipped his head to the side, looking intently at Bruce, before turning his gaze to the other people gathered around him. “I don’t want to kill Ultron,” he confessed. “He’s unique, and he’s in pain.” His feet hovered inches off the floor as he brought up data on the creation known as Ultron, and filtered them through his processors, analyzing them. “But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed,” he let the data filter away again and took in each person that stood in the penthouse. “Every form he’s built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now.” He caught the looks on the faces around him. “And not one of us can do it without the others,” his determination surprised him only a little, he knew these people, some more intensely than others, but his memory was filled with information about each of them. “Maybe I am a monster. I don’t think I’d know if I were one,” he searched his mind for a way to earn their trust. “I’m not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me,” he found his answer sitting on the end of the coffee table, somehow still sitting between the couches. “But we need to go,” he picked the hammer up off the end of the table and handed it to Thor. He could feel the looks of each member of the group on his back as he floated away.

“Right,” Thor patted Tony on the shoulder, possibly a little harder than strictly necessary. “Well done.”

“Three minutes,” Steve followed the creation as he made his way down to the weapons lockers. “Get what you need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't left Kudos yet, now would be a good time.
> 
> Thank you.


	23. Circus Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late Sunday night, but I'm full of caffeine, so here is the next chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Thank you to my lovely beta for finding all the places where I refuse to put dashes, and making me put them in. Kacie, you are awesome, and as stubborn as I am.

Handle With Care

Chapter 23: Circus Life

The smell of dust and popcorn lingered throughout the tent as the lights came up, the colored gels blending and washing the center ring in a bright sunrise as the speakers slowly started to fill the bigtop with music. When Clint had sent her and their daughter to the circus for protection, this wasn’t what she’d expected. She figured a small town circus with a couple of acts and maybe a sideshow. What she’d found was well oiled machine: the tightrope walkers were graceful and terrifying in almost the same way that Natasha could be, the horseback riders were amazing, and even the clowns were beautiful in their own funny ways. Hannah wiggled in her seat next to her mother as they watched Barney pull a blindfold over his eyes, pointing his bow towards a target where a pretty girl stood, holding an apple out in her hand. Laura told Darcy that the girl, the daughter of one of the carnies, was filling in for her while she was pregnant. Laura hadn’t been happy about it, but audiences didn’t like Barney shooting at his pregnant wife, so she was dealing with it. 

“Uncle Barney’s really good,” the little girl whispered as quietly as she could in her seat in the booth high above the rest of the audience. “But Daddy’s better.” Laura huffed out a startled laugh and looked over at Darcy, who just shrugged.

“We’ll have to have them shoot side by side when your husband gets back,” Laura leaned over into Darcy’s space and bumped her shoulder. “Make it an event.”

“You trying to get my man to put his name back up on the posters?” Darcy leaned into her not quite sister-in-law. “That would draw a crowd.”

“You know,” the other woman waffled back and forth. “Every little bit helps. Can’t go wrong with a little extra income. If we wait until after the little one gets here, we can set ourselves on opposite sides of the ring, let them shoot around us. It's totally a thrill.”

“Yeah,” Darcy rubbed her hand down her face. She hadn’t heard from Clint since he’d let her know they were headed out, and that he knew were Nat was. That was nearly five days ago, and her stomach was starting to sour with every passing moment of silence. “I don’t know how much thrill I need right now.”

“Maybe at the next stop we should get you set up to take Sarah’s place,” Laura ran her hands up and down Darcy’s back, clearly feeling for her. “Rehearsals will take your mind off your Hawk.”

“We’ll see,” she shrugged, turning her attention back towards Barney, who was guiding his assistant to take her bows, arrows clutched in her fists, her deep purple and black sequined costume glittering under the lights. “If I do it, Hannah will want to do something, too.”

“The kids start with tumbling and running around with the clowns,” Laura nodded towards the ring where her boys were running around, leading a couple of dogs on leashes for the clown act. “No reason she can’t.”

“Please, mommy,” Hannah looked down at her cousins, who were painted up like clowns, grinning as they lead their dogs through a series of tricks. “I wanna be in the circus like daddy, too.”  
“If I haven’t heard from Clint before we get to Springfield, I’ll do it.”

*****

Darcy looked down the wrong end of an arrow. Barney’s kind smile looked malicious and terrifying from this angle, but she took a deep breath and held the apple in an open palm and took a long slow breath. She reminded herself that Laura wouldn’t steer her wrong, and Barney wouldn’t hit her. He’d trained with Clint, who Darcy had seen shoot with his feet while doing a handstand, and still hit the perfect center of the bullseye. She still closed her eyes.

“Darling,” Barney called from his place twenty five paces away. Darcy cracked one eye and glared at him. “You can’t close your eyes.”

“I’m standing in the middle of a field with an apple in my hand while my brother-in-law shoots at me,” Darcy shouted back, adjusting her shoulders and taking another breath. “Give me this first one.”

“Just one,” he said, a small whisper of wind passed her and the apple tumbled out of her hand. “The next one you gotta watch.” The apple lay on the ground with an arrow sticking perfectly out of the center of it. “Every apple you shut your eyes for, I’m making you eat.”

“I don’t see how that’s a punishment,” Darcy grumbled as she leaned over and picked up the apple by the arrow, careful not to grab at the fletching.

“Oh, sweetheart, by the tenth apple you won't be saying that,” Barney tossed her a fresh apple, which she juggled a couple of times before she got a firm hand on it. “And we’re working on your catching skills.”

“Left hand,” she lifted her right that was still holding the arrow with an apple sliding ridiculously down its shaft. “I can catch with my right.”

“Gotta be able to do both,” he tapped his finger on his chin. “When we’re done you’re going to go see Bastion, he’ll teach you to juggle.”

“You know,” Darcy chucked the arrow and apple back to her brother in law, who caught it with his off hand and bit into the apple, pulling the arrow free in one smooth motion. Darcy elected not to remind him that it had just been on the ground, and who knew what was on the ground along with dirt and gravel. “Once this thing with Ultron is all cleared up, Hannah and I are headed back to New York.”

“And you’ll be back next year,” Barney pulled an new arrow out of the quiver next to him and took aim. “Hold your hand a little higher there darling.” She rolled her eyes and held her hand a little higher, watching the top of Barney’s head, his spiky brown hair ruffling a little in the breeze. The arrow struck this apple perfectly, too. “Good job, now this time, try not to look terrified.” Darcy watched as the apple he tossed her bounced on the ground and rolled away.

*****

Laura hummed as she sewed, the needle she held between her lips did nothing to stop her. Darcy stood on an overturned milk crate in the middle of the Barton’s living room, resisting the urge to tug at the crotch of the costume that Laura had pulled out of the back of her closet. While Laura and Darcy were about the same height and weight, but Laura was a bit less endowed as Darcy was, which necessitated a little adjustment to her costume, which was smushing the girls something awful as Laura pulled gently at the seams to let them out and re-adjust.

“Well this is a treat,” Barney tossed his bow on the kitchen counter and looked over at the two women in the living room. “I can see why Clint picked you up.”

“First, stop ogling. You’re married, and your wife literally has a needle next to some very sensitive equipment of mine; I’m very nearly your sister,” Darcy rolled her eyes at Laura’s deep chuckle. “And second, how do you know I didn’t pick Clint up?”

“Hunch,” he shrugged. “I picked Laura up with a beer and a glass of whiskey, the whiskey was for her.”

“Yeah,” Darcy bit her lip and sighed. “The beer was for me, Clint likes Jamieson.”

“His tastes have matured,” Barney opened the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of iced tea, and waved it at Darcy who nodded.

“I blame his ex-wife’s ex-husband, and no, I’m not telling that story, cause it’s super convoluted, and mostly happened before I even knew him,” she accepted the tea and tried not to flinch as Laura ripped a seam and pinned it back to accommodate Darcy’s bigger boobs. “Hunter’s English? I’m ninety percent sure, never met the man, and had been Clint’s best friend. Of course they don’t talk anymore, but that’s Bobbi’s fault, and I guess Hunter’s too. Whatever, Hunter introduced Clint to Irish whiskey, and he still drinks it over beer when he’s got a choice. He says beer is for getting drunk, and whiskey is for enjoying.”

“Right,” Barney chugged the last of his tea and deposited his glass in the sink. “I’m gonna leave you girls to your sewing circle,” Darcy chucked an ice cube at him, which he caught and dropped in the sink. “Darcy, Bastion is expecting you after you’re done here.” He didn’t wait for her response as he skipped back out of the trailer, the screen door slamming shut behind him.

“He likes you,” Laura hummed, turning Darcy so she could get a handle on the other side of the costume and keep the good light. “He wouldn’t be training you so hard if he didn’t.”

“I think he’s hoping that by making me like it here, I’ll bring Clint back.”

“That, too,” the other woman smiled, tucking pins between her lips and tilting her head to the side. “Hold here,” she pressed Darcy’s free hand to the side of her left breast, and pulled a seam open, humming the entire time.

*****

The news was on in the Carter’s trailer when Darcy caught the first glance of Clint. He was wearing the long sleeved jacket that she'd made him, the purple stripes down the sides catching the sunlight before he was gone again. At least he’d taken her fucking advice and took the new uniform. Hopefully he’d given his old sleeveless Kevlar to the kid, too.

“What’s this,” she dropped down onto the couch, mindful of the sequins that barely covered her butt as she sat towards the front of the couch, accepting a cup of tea from Maggie.

“News coverage from somewhere called Sokovia,” Joe said, sitting down next to her, patting her shoulder as he leaned back. “Don’t know much, but the UN is all up in arms about the fact that the city has been uprooted, they’re talking about disaster zones as it rises higher.”

“Tony’ll figure something out,” she took a small sip of the flowery tea. “It’s what he does.”

“I’m sure you're right,” Maggie perched on the arm of the couch. “We need to shut this off, we’ve got a crowd coming in less than an hour, and I want you to run through with Barney in your costume before we have to open seating.”

“Right,” Darcy nodded, going to place her cup on the coffee table when a blur flashed in front of the camera on TV. A boy no older than seventeen or eighteen with striking gray hair paused for just a moment, his shoulders not quite filling out Clint’s old uniform, where it pulled tight over the boy’s hips. Darcy let out a long slow breath. She loved her Hawk. “Can we record this, watch it later?”

“DVR’s already on, Mrs. Hawk,” Joe smiled. “We like to watch our boy, too. Gives us some comfort to see the good he does.”

“Yeah,” Darcy took one last look at the TV, catching a glimpse of Steve and metal monstrosity that was Ultron, the Captain’s shield flying through the air, catching the light and reflecting off the camera. “I just want him to call and say he’s coming home.”

“He’ll come home to you and your Little Hawk,” Maggie pulled her into a quick hug before pushing her towards the door. “Now, get, Barney’s gonna be waiting.”

*****

Watching the news coverage after the show did nothing for Darcy’s sleep. She sat up all night, watching as the moon slowly made its way across the sky, counting the minutes until she could turn on her burner phone. The night sounds around the camp had started to seep into her bones, settling inside of her in a way that the hustle of New York never really had. She loved living in the Tower, and having her friends and family close around her, but the sterile tower, with its sound proofing, keeping all the noises of the world away from her had never really felt real. This was real. She could hear the very early spring insects starting to sing the further south the circus traveled, and the sound of the traffic along the rural route the fair grounds ran along was soothing, the slight light that penetrated Laura’s living room curtains slowly rolled through the room as cars approached and then speed past. Darcy fingered the phone, turning it over and over in her hand as she watched the clock on the wall above the stove.

“You can’t just sit up all night, sis,” Barney said quietly from where he leaned just inside the hallway. “You gotta sleep.”

“I’ll sleep when he’s safe,” she placed the phone down on the coffee table and sat up, pulling her blankets with her so he could sit. “He’s never been gone this long before, not without word.”

“Well,” her brother-in-law sat down on the couch and pulled her close under his arm. “That extinction level event didn’t happen, so we know they either won, or they’re still fighting.”

“I’m betting on won,” Darcy sighed and leaned into Barney. He smelled like Clint, at least a little. There was no gunsmoke lingering under the scent of leather and spearmint, but she could almost smell the wax he worked into his bowstring before he put it up, he used the same brand that Clint did. “The rate of ascension and the trajectory, the city would have broken apart in the stratosphere by now, if I’m calculating it right. If they hadn’t stopped it, which would have triggered that extinction level event.”

“Clint said you were smart,” Barney nodded. “We certainly know how to pick them. You know, Laura won't let them call her Dr. Barton.”

“I’m working on my own in physics,” she hummed, lights from another car washing over the living room, bathing Barney in the headlights. His nose was straighter than Clint’s, and his coloring was darker. Now that she had a chance to really look at him over the past few weeks, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t recognized him the second she saw him that first day. They were definitely brothers.

“Okay smarty pants,” he hugged her close for a moment before dropping a kiss against the side of her head. “If you’re gonna sit up, I’m going to start some coffee. You can help me feed the animals, it's my turn.”

“At eight I’m abandoning you,” Darcy nodded. Her eyes went back to the phone on the table.

“Fair enough,” Barney poured water into the back of the coffee maker, humming as he worked.

*****

Clint held his phone in his hands, turning it over and over as he sat at the helm of the Quinjet, listening to the twins chattering quietly in the back in Sokovian. He watched as the minutes ticked down to eight in the morning in Arkansas, where the circus was scheduled to be. At exactly eight he powered his phone up and counted to twenty before dialing the only number saved in the phone, listening to it ring.

“Hey baby,” he could hear the smile in his girl’s voice. “I saw you on TV.”

“They better have gotten my good side,” he said, tucking the phone between his ear and shoulder. “How are my girls?”

“Missing you,” Darcy breathed. “We miss you so much.”

“Well,” he tipped his head back to look at the twins, only seeing Wanda sitting in the back looking annoyed. “I’m coming to you as we speak. And I got a couple of tag alongs.” He barely got the sentence out when the phone was whisked away from him in a rush of air.

“This Mrs. Hawkeye,” Pietro waved the phone at Clint before zipping to the back to the back of the Quinjet. “Hey, Mrs. Hawkeye, you up for some company?”

“Hello,” Darcy chuckled. “How far out are you all?”

“‘Bout an hour, maybe two, since grandpa’s driving,” he threw himself into the seat next to his sister, sliding into her as he landed. “Say hi to Wanda.” He shoved the phone against the side of his sister’s head. “Say hi to Mrs. Hawkeye, sis.”

“Hi,” the girl rolled her eyes at her brother. “We’re sorry to drop in, but Clint insisted we come.”

“No worries, sweetheart,” Darcy smiled into the phone. “Of course you’re welcome. Mind if I talk to Clint for a moment longer?”

“Yeah,” the girl clicked out of her safety harness and wobbled over to the front of the jet. “Sorry about Pietro.” She handed the phone back to Clint, who just smiled.

“We’ll be there in a few hours,” he confirmed, setting the phone back between his head and shoulder. “How are you?”

“They dressed me up in sequins last night, and Barney shot arrows at me,” Darcy said, with laughter in her voice. “It wasn’t as horribly terrifying as I thought it would be.”

“He’s a good shot,” the archer shrugged, checking some of the controls and his flight path. “Not as good as I am.”

“Laura wants you two to have a shoot off,” she let the screen door of the trailer bang shut behind her as she made her way down the short hall to the kids’ room. “But she wants to wait until the little one is born, which should be soon, the baby’s absolutely dropped since you left.”

“I’m gonna just trust you on that, since Laura’s about the only pregnant woman I’ve actually been around,“ he flicked a few switches and checked that the twins were in their seats before turning the jet. “I’m always up for showing up my big brother.”

“I figured you’d say that,” Darcy quietly shook their daughter awake. “Hey niblet,” she whispered quietly. “Wake up and say hi to Daddy.”

“Daddy?” the little girl held her hand out for the phone, pulling it with her back under the covers. “Hi daddy, are you coming home soon?”

“I’ll be there just after breakfast, kiddo,” Clint smiled as his daughter hummed into the phone, the little sounds of her blankets pulled over her head. “Go back to sleep, baby, I’ll see you soon.”

“Love you, Daddy,” Hannah said, pushing the phone back out to her mother.

“I love you too, Hawk,” Darcy smiled into the phone and slipped back out of the bedroom. “See you soon.”

“Love you too, Mrs. Hawk,” Clint hung up, absolutely sure he had a goofy grin on his face.

“So,” Pietro was suddenly there next to him. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I can still shoot you,” the archer raised a brow at the boy who was nearly vibrating next to him. “No one would ever know.”

“Mrs. Hawkeye would be very put out if you showed up without me now,” the teen shrugged.

“Yeah, but she’d get over it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ultron is over! 
> 
> Please don't forget to leave your thoughts in the space provided below. It's what makes the writer in me put pen to paper.
> 
> Love!


	24. Ready For It?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday (almost Tuesday, at least here...) here's an extra long chapter to start your week off right.
> 
> Thank you to my beta, Kacie, who loves me enough to stay up and finish this chapter with me, because I was determined to get it posted before I went to bed.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 24: Ready For It?

Hannah had her face pressed to the glass of the Barton’s front window, her eyes wide, waiting for the moment her father’s jet touched down. Darcy had tried to explain to her that the Quinjet would be cloaked and she wouldn’t be able to see it, but the little girl couldn’t be pulled away from the window, her breakfast turning icy on the table behind her.

“He said after breakfast,” Hannah’s breath ghosted over the glass creating small puffs of frost on the surface. “It’s after breakfast.” She tipped her head to the side, taking her eyes from the field she could see through the window for just a moment to glance at her mother.

“He said a couple of hours, bug,” Darcy smiled, grabbing Hannah’s plate to scrape the glue-like eggs from the plastic surface. “He’ll be home by the time you finish your chores.”

“But mommy,” the little girl tugged at the curtains, a deep frown on her face.

“No buts little one,” Darcy rinsed the plate and left it in the sink for later. “You have chores. Just cause Daddy’s on his way, does not change that.”

“I don’t wanna miss him,” Hannah pleaded with her. Darcy just nodded and sat down on the couch, pulling the little girl into her lap.

“You’re not gonna miss Daddy,” she tucked her daughter up in her arms, running her fingers through the girl’s hair. “He’s staying, and you know he’ll want to see you.”

“Are you sure?” the girl snuggled down into her mommy’s arms, pulling them tight around her. “He said he would come home to us last time, and he left again.”

“He had to work, bug,” Darcy rubbed her chin into the crown of her daughter’s head. “He’s coming home for a while, nothing pressing to take him away.”

“And he’s gonna live in our apartment, right?” Hannah tangled her fingers with her mom’s, her little hands running over Darcy’s palm. “He’s gonna live in your room, like Tommy’s daddy?”

“That’s right, sweetheart,” she sighed, there wasn’t anything she wanted more than to be home in their apartment. Even watching Brave another thousand times sounded amazing. If only she could be in her own bed, her lover tucked up close, and her daughter in the other room. “Just as soon as we get home.”

*****

The entire circus was out in force getting ready for the next move. They had a long drive through Tennessee to make it all the way to Chattanooga for the next show, and only two days to do it. Darcy pulled the canvas of one of the smaller tents taunt with the help of Sarah and a couple of the other girls. They slowly worked all the air out of the fabric and rolled it tight so it would fit back into its bag for transport.

“Any word from Hawkeye?” Sarah asked, as they stuffed the canvas down into the bag.

“Yeah,” Darcy rubbing her forehead with the back of her wrist before sweat could run into her eyes. “He should be here any time.”

“That should be a relief,” the younger girl flashed her a smile that settled flatly over her face. “Can’t imagine having that kind of stress.”

“You just want your job back,” another girl snarked, hefting the bag over her shoulder. “Don’t you lie.”

“I could use a little less idle time,” Sarah nodded, following her friend. “I’m glad you’ve heard from your husband.”

“Thanks,” Darcy looked out over the trees, seeing them rustle across the lot dust circling in little devils even though there wasn’t a lick of wind. “I’ve gotta find Hannah, you girls got this?”

“Yeah,” they agreed, dismissing Darcy without a look.

*****

The ramp landed with a soft thud on the hard packed dirt of the parking lot and Clint took a long slow breath of the dusty MidWestern air. He was home. A squeal from the end of the ramp brought a smile to his face. He turned his jumpseat around just in time to receive Hannah, who lept into his arms.

“Daddy,” the little girl smiled brightly, her little hands on either side of his face. “You’re all hairy,” her tiny fingernails scratched at the week old stubble on his cheeks. “You don’t smell as bad as last time, though.”

“I’m happy to see you too, niblet,” Clint teased, nipping at her fingers, making her squeal and laugh. “Where’s your mom, Hannah?”

“She’s coming,” Hannah looked back over her shoulder to where Darcy was walking up the ramp. “She hasn’t been sleeping so good,” the little girl whispered to her father. “She’s missed you. You should give her extra special good cuddles tonight, cause she needs them.”

“I think I can handle that, sweetie,” he kissed his daughter’s cheek and set her down on the floor to stand as Darcy finally made all the way to him. “Hey little momma,” he pulled his girlfriend into his arms, burying his nose in her slightly damp curls, breathing in the lavender scent of her hair, mixed with the dusty earth and sweat from her skin. “I’m home.”

“Yeah you are,” she tipped her head back and caught his lips with hers. “Kinda like the scruff, Mr. Hawk.”

*****

Wanda watched Hawkeye with his family. She looked at her brother, who was still curled up on the seat of the jet, his eyes watching the same thing that she was.

“What do you think?” she asked quietly, even though she knew they weren’t paying them any attention.

“Do you really wanna fight?” he tipped his head back and looked over at her from under his lashes. “After everything?”

“For them,” Wanda shrugged. “I think it’d be worth it.”

“Hey guys,” Hawkeye called from where he was still standing with his wife and daughter. “Why don’t you come meet the fam?” He had a grin on his face that looked so natural, he almost didn’t look like the same man they’d been fighting with in Sokovia. He had his arm over the small brunette’s shoulders, her entire body curled up into his, their daughter tucked in between them. “Darcy, Hanah,” he rubbed his face along the top of the woman’s head, the stubble on his chin catching in her curls, making her giggle and pull at her hair, tucking it back behind her ears. “This is Wanda,” he nodded to her, and Wanda gave a little wave back. “And that’s Pietro,” Clint nodded at her brother, who smirked and rushed over to the little family, taking Darcy’s hand and kissing the back, before zipping back to his place on the seat next to Wanda. “Guys, these are my girls,” the archer squeezed his family for a moment before reluctantly letting them go.

Darcy picked her daughter up and walked over to the twins, a kind smile on her face. “It’s good to meet you,” she held out her hand to Wanda. “Clint hasn’t told me much, but the fact that he brought you here means a lot. Don’t tell anyone,” she lowered her voice, bringing her hand up to her lips so only the twins and Hannah could hear. “He’s a big softy.” Darcy giggled a little behind her hand. “Come on, Wanda, why don’t you help me get dinner on, the boys can do the heavy lifting.”

Wanda looked Darcy over, the woman couldn’t be more than ten years older than she was, her long brown hair in messy curls; jeans that fit comfortably, with the fabric rubbed through over her knees and her soft t-shirt tucked up in the front behind the big silver belt buckle, and her daughter hanging off her hip. The girl nodded, and took the older woman’s hand. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” Darcy let Hannah drop to the floor so she could run over to her father for another hug. “You boys play nice, I think Barney could use some help with the furniture, we move out after dinner.”

“Just gotta call Nat,” Clint curled around his daughter and pulled out the burner that was still in his pocket. “You wanna talk to Aunt Nat?” he asked Hannah, who was already pulling the phone out of his hands to dial. “I’ll see you at dinner, momma.”

“Good to have you home, daddy,” Darcy blew kiss over her shoulder and pulled Wanda up under her arm. “Don’t worry, I’ll introduce you around.”

*****

Darcy smiled over at the girl who had become her shadow. Wanda carefully chopped veggies at her side, each slice careful and calculated, her head bent down so she wouldn’t have to make eye contact with anyone. Darcy tucked the girl’s hair behind her ears, feeling the tension along the girl’s neck and shoulders. “Are large groups hard for you,” she whispered quietly, eyeing the teen as she scraped the carrots into a bowl and set them aside. “You know, with the witchy powers,” Darcy made little smokey, wiggly finger gestures.

“Sometimes,” Wanda shrugged and reached for the bowl full of tomatoes that needed chopping. “It’s worse when I’m tired,” she ran a tomato under the water and placed it in the center of her board. “Things,” she waffled around. “Sneak in?” she looked up at Darcy, her eyes begging for understanding. “I try not to see.”

“No worries,” Darcy shrugged and took the carrots away. “Anything you see, just don’t share,” she smile and patted the girl on the back. “I tend to say everything I think anyway.”

“It makes most people uncomfortable,” the younger woman frowned, her head bowed again over her work. “I don’t mean to.”

“I know,” Darcy handed off the bowl to Laura, who was busy making a massive salad for the camp. “Like I said, whatever you see, just don’t share. If you wanna talk about what you see in my head, just ask. I’m pretty open.”

“I make Hawkeye uncomfortable, I can feel it,” Wanda pulled another tomato out to cut. “He tries to hide it.”

“Clint’s had some bad experiences with mind stuff,” she agreed, gently pulling Wanda’s hair over her shoulder and winding it into a messy braid so that it stayed out of her way. “None of that’s your fault. You just be you, Clint’ll relax eventually.”

Wanda just nodded and picked up another tomato, slicing cleanly through the thin skin of the fruit, sectioning it carefully, before dumping it into a bowl. “He thinks about you a lot,” she smiled at Darcy, who grinned back. “When he thinks about you, you’ve got a pretty ring though.” The other woman just raised a brow at that. “He loves you.”

“I love him, too,” Darcy bit gently at her bottom lip and snuck a peek at where Clint and his brother were loading the last of the tents into the truck for transport. A ring, she wasn’t completely sure she was ready for that just yet, but it was good to know Clint was thinking about that kind of permanence, especially with the spectacular failure of his last marriage.

*****

Pietro zipped back and forth across the camp ground. Clint had sent him on a mission to make sure that nothing got left behind. So far he’d found two stuffed animals, only one that was claimed by a circus kid, half a dozen plastic cups, the washable kind, and a cell phone. He’d also found more used condoms in the woods than he needed to see, but those could stay there for all he cared. He was mostly sure that Hawkeye had sent him away so that he wouldn’t bug him anymore, but if the archer thought that making him run around the campground would tire him out, he had another thing coming. Being cooped up in the jet over night had nearly driven the boy out of his mind, and a little exercise, while a good distraction for an hour or so, wouldn’t help when he was stuck in the jet again.

“You done?” Hawkeye’s brother clapped him on the shoulder, looking over at the collection of things the boy had found. “Hey, my phone,” he picked up the cell and dusted it off. “Laura would have my head if I lost another one.”

“I didn’t see anything else worth mentioning,” Quicksilver smirked and shrugged. “I figured trash stayed where it was.”

The older Barton nodded and pocketed the phone. “Just about,” he scratched the back of his neck and looked around. “We like to keep places as clean as we can when we leave, but you know.”

“Right,” the boy sped off again.

“Speedy little fucker,” Clint joined his brother and looked over the collected items. “His eyes are as fast as his feet though.”

“If those kids bug you so much, why’d you bring them?” Barney bumped his shoulder against his brothers. “You coulda just sent them off with the other Avengers to wherever you all hang your hats.”

“Upstate New York, at least for a while,” Clint rolled his shoulders and sighed. “Tower’s a mess, Ultron did a number on the top two floors, and R&D needs to be rebuilt, plus the Legionnaire areas, all torn to bits. Tony’s talking another major remodel,” he shrugged. “So we’re going to the training facility upstate. It's not quite finished yet, but anything’s better than a penthouse that leaks when it rains, right?”

“You live a crazy life,” Barney laughed, throwing an arm around his brother. “Sure you don’t wanna just hang with the circus for a while? Might be quieter.”

“Tempting, but we gotta get Hannah back in school, and you don’t have the space,” the archer watched as Darcy finished cooking, Wanda only two steps behind his girlfriend, the younger girl having imprinted on her like a baby duckling. Yeah, the twins bugged him, for different reasons, but he was glad he’d brought them. A little family time would do them both good. Pietro zipped past, ruffling the hair tucked behind his ears. Didn’t mean he couldn’t still take the speedy bastard out later.

*****

It was well passed midnight when Clint dropped the Quinjet into the rest stop where they had agreed to stop and meet the rest of the circus. Darcy was fast asleep in the copilot’s seat, her head tucked into the corner of one of the arm rests, hair falling over her face, her snores almost too quiet to hear.

“Hey darling,” Clint unbuckled his belt and knelt on the floor in front of his girlfriend, pushing her hair off her face, cupping her cheek in his hand. “Wake up babe.”

“Not sleeping,” she mumbled, rubbing her face into his hand. “Just gotta close my eyes a minute.”

“That’s too bad cause we’re here,” he whispered, his lips grazing over hers, a little smirk on his mouth as she moaned sleepily. “You said to wake you when we got here.”

“Yeah,” Darcy pushed his face away, and tried to turn away where she was still strapped into her seat, grunting in frustration. “Wake me when we’re here.”

“You are adorable,” Clint reached out and unbuckled her harness and gently pulled her out of the seat, lifting her into his arms, where she cuddled into his chest. “If you want, I can just let you sleep. The rest of the circus should be here by morning.”

“No,” she whined, rubbing her face in the soft t-shirt he’d pulled on to replace his slightly smelly uniform. “Want sexy time. We’re all alone, we should celebrate,” she made and aborted effort to pull his face down to hers. “I want those very special cuddles our little girl mentioned, naked special cuddles.”

“Babe,” he gently set her down on the air mattress that they had pulled into the jet before they left the twins and Hannah with the Bartons and the circus. “I’m serious, you can just sleep, we can have sex any time, Hannah said you weren’t sleeping.”

“No,” Darcy grabbed two fists full of his shirt and bodily pulled him down on the mattress over her, causing the entire thing to almost upend. “I missed you, Hawk,” she nuzzled her cheek against his, his stubble scratching at her skin. “Pants off.”

“As you wish,” Clint smiled down at his girlfriend, her bright blue eyes peering up at him in the half light of the back of the jet. “Condoms?”

“In my bag,” she wiggled out of the jeans, pushing them down and off the end of the mattress without getting up. “Sorry I don’t have any sexy undies,” she went to push the plain blue cotton ones that were the only clean ones left in her bag, but Clint stopped her.

“These are plenty sexy, darling,” he ran his hands down her legs, pulling one ankle to his lips and leaving a slow kiss against the inner curve of her foot. “I’ll be right back.”

“Be naked when you get back,” Darcy giggled as his shirt landed on the air mattress next to her. “Keep going.”

Clint looked over his shoulder at her and let his jeans drop to the floor, confirming her suspicion that he’d gone commando. She watched as he bent over and dug into her bag, looking for the packet of condoms that she had tucked into the inner pocket. “Darcy, are these glow in the dark?”

“Sue me, I found them at the last stop in the showers,” she shrugged, a little smile on her lips. “I thought they might be fun.”

“Are you sure they’ll work,” he fingered the packet. “I mean, glow in the dark is novel, but…”

“I’ve been on the pill for a full month now,” Darcy stood and walked over to him, if she swayed her hips a little more than was strictly necessary, no one knew but her. She plucked the packet out of his fingers and tossed it towards the bed. “We can live a little dangerously,” she ran her hands down his chest and skimmed over the front of his thighs as he grabbed her hips and pulled her flush against him, only her plain panties and cotton bra between them. “You’re still wearing your socks,” she nipped at his lips and pushed him back into his jumpseat before turning back towards the mattress.

Clint caught her around the waist and pulled her into the seat with him. “Where do you think you’re going?” he kissed down the side of her neck, pushing her hair over the other shoulder, biting gently at the join of her shoulder. “I want you right here,” his hands ran down her sides and back up her belly to cup her breasts. “God I missed you,” Clint pinched at her nipples, rolling the hard nubs between his fingers as he ran his tongue over the space behind her ear.

“Missed you too,” Darcy let her head fall back on his shoulder as one of his hands made its way back down her stomach and pushed her legs apart so they fell to either side of his. “We should take this over to the mattress.”

“Not done here, babe,” his hand dipped between her legs, slipping his middle finger between her folds, groaning softly in her ear as she pressed up into him. “Gotta take my time.”

“No, you need to fuck me,” she pushed his hand more firmly between her legs, feeling his finger press against her opening, teasing around the edges. “Clint.”

“Nope,” he captured her hands in one of his, and pulled them up to her shoulder as he continued to tease at her. “Baby, I’ve been thinking about this since we left. You feel so good, so wet for me,” his gently pressed his finger inside, pulling a long deep moan from her lips. “I wanna feel you fall apart.”

“Please,” Darcy pressed up into his fingers, the heel of his hand rubbing against her clit as he slowly teased his finger in and out of her, not going deep enough for her. “More, now.” Clint let go of her hands and pushed a second finger into her, pulling her face around to capture her lips, slowly driving her higher. “Feels so good.”

“You gonna come for me, baby?” he ground his palm against her clit making her writhe. “Tell me what you need.”

“More,” she pressed down into his hand, rubbed herself on his hand.

“More what, baby?” he slowly scissored his fingers inside of her, adding a third finger.

“I want you inside of me,” Darcy moaned as he fucked her with his fingers slowly. “I want you to fuck me, please.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” Clint pulled his fingers reluctantly out of her and pressed a kiss to the join of her shoulder. “Go get on the mattress, all fours.” Darcy slid off of his lap on shaky legs, turning to capture his lips in a long slow kiss, her fingers wrapping around his cock, slightly tempted to give him the same treatment he’d given her. “I thought you wanted to get fucked, babe,” he pushed her away with a wicked wink. “Come on, girly, do what you’re told.”

“Yes sir,” she stole one last kiss before she took the few steps back to the mattress and knelt on the edge, pushing the condom packet out of the way, so he could easily reach it. She watched him over her shoulder as he stood slowly, his body taut and ready as his eyes roamed over her back.

“All fours, baby,” he swiped the packet off the bed and ripped it open as she settled down on her hands, her ass waving back and forth as she waited. “You ready for me?”

“More than,” Darcy let her weight fall onto her elbows as he pulled her hips up and her knees wider. “Need you.”

Clint lined himself up and pressed slowly into her. “Glad you were up for some sexy times,” he groaned as he bottomed out inside of her, her muscles fluttering around him at the intrusion. “Put your head down, sweetheart.”

“Long as you don’t hold back,” Darcy grunted as he pulled back and slowly pressed back in. “I need you hard.”

“I can do that,” he flexed his hips, snapping their bodies back together, pushing her down into her arms. “You gotta touch yourself, I’m not gonna last if we go hard.” Darcy wormed one arm under herself, pressing two fingers against her clit as her archer gripped her hips and set a punishing pace. “That what you need, princess?”

“Yes,” the word fell from her lips in a long moan. “Don’t stop.”

“Won't,” Clint flexed his hands on her hips and pulled her back to meet his thrusts. “You better be busy down there, babe,” he ground out.

“So close, Hawk,” Darcy cried, her fingers pressing over her clit in tandem with his thrusts. “Please.”

“Darcy,” he arched his hips as far into her as he could, his body tight with tension before he felt her flutter around him, her entire being shaking as she cried out, her face pressed into the mattress as she pressed herself into him. He let go as she shook. “Love you, baby.”

“Love you, too,” she pulled him down over her, surrounding herself with his scent, his weight pressing her into the mattress. “Okay, sleep now.”

Clint chuckled and kissed the back of her neck. “Just let me clean up,” he stood up and turned away to look for a trash bin.

“There’s a ziplock bag in my bag,” Darcy grinned sleepily at him, pulling his shirt over her head, the neck up under her nose as she took in his scent. “We can deal with it in the morning.”

“Perfect,” he smiled over his shoulder at her. He never thought one of his shirts could be so sexy, but there she was, making it perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a note in the box below.


	25. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back from vacation. It was nice to get away, but I'm happy to be home... I missed my nice comfy bed so much, its unreal.
> 
> Thank you to Kacie, my ever patient beta, for being at my side, and sitting through stories of how cute my kid is at all hours. All the Love!
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 25: Interlude

The lights glittered off the sequins on her costume as she made a slow dramatic turn around the center ring, Barney’s bow and arrows clutched in her hand while the archer followed. The lights rose as he positioned her at the far end of the ring, and took the bow from her. She took a long breath, glancing up to where she knew her boyfriend was watching, giving him a cheeky wink, and caught the apple that Barney threw her, her fingers juggling the first piece of fruit in time to catch the second and third. At the top of the third loop, Barney fired, putting three successive arrows, one in each apple. Darcy caught each arrow as the apple fell, and flicked them one at a time to Barney, ready to catch the next set of apples.

*****

Darcy took a deep bow, Barney’s hand clutched tightly in hers as the music died down and the lights faded. She couldn’t hear anything past the rush of the crowd, but she could feel her Hawk’s eyes on her, his gaze warming her from the inside.

“You did good, Mrs. Hawk,” Barney shouted against the side of her head, his voice cutting thinly through the applause. “We’re gonna miss you and the little one.”

“We’ll miss you, too,” Darcy smiled up at the archer. “We’ll be back, big brother,” she pushed a solid kiss to the apple of his cheek before he lifted her single handed off the ground and up onto his shoulder before making his exit from center ring.

“You get those grubby hands off my girl,” Clint beamed at the both of them, clasping hands with his brother, letting the older man pull him into a one armed hug that transferred Darcy from one man to the other. “You did good, little momma,” he let her body slide down the front of him, capturing her lips with his and holding her just inches above the ground. “So we juggle now?”

“Just apples, and only three,” she shrugged, her arms hooked over his shoulders and her legs snaking up to wrap around his hips, keeping herself more secure. “And you have no idea how long it took me to be able to do even that.”

“We’ll practice at home,” he stole another kiss, his hand smacking down on the exposed part of her butt under the costume. “We’ll work out a reward system.”

“Barney let me eat the apples I didn’t drop,” Darcy giggled, squirming away from the hand rubbing over the stinging flesh of her ass.

“I think we can do better than a couple of apples, darling,” Clint growled, carrying her out the back of the tent towards where the Quinjet was parked at the far end of the fairgrounds. “I might even spring for chocolate kisses, and cherry lollipops.”

“Oh, Mr. Barton,” she kissed the underside of his chin and down the side of his neck. “There are children present,” she winked at where Laura was hustling the kids back to the Barton’s trailer in the opposite direction of the jet. “And we need to head back to New York. Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“I’ll finish alright,” he gave her ass one last squeeze before giving it a smack and dropping her to her feet. “When we’re home.”

“We really not headed to the Tower?” Darcy leaned into his side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as they walked up the ramp to the jet.

“It’s not really habitable right now,” Clint stooped down and pulled a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the bench and tossed it to her. “Tony’s been working on a training facility for a while, you know, somewhere where we can beat each other up without the good citizens of New York right on the other side of the glass. I just don’t think he imagined that we would be living there long term, or with family.”

“Uh,” she groaned, carefully pulling the sequined leotard off her shoulders, mindful of how sharp the little, shiny disks could be when dragged over skin. “What kind of accommodation are we talking about?”

“Small apartment style shit,” Clint shrugged, catching the costume that she tossed at him and turning it rightside out. “They are one bedrooms, you and I will have our own room, Hannah will have to camp out in the living room, and that’s about it. Not going to be much alone time until we can get something figured out.”

“How long do we have until the kids get here?” Darcy paused as she pulled on her jeans.

“Not long enough for what you’re thinking,” the archer dropped down into the front jump seat, pulling his hand down his face. “Get dressed, we’ll get underway, and I’ll have something figured out for ‘Hawk Alone Time’ before we get to New York.”

“I’m counting on it,” she pulled the over sized tee over her head, grinning down at the purple bullseye adorning the center of the shirt. “Cause I could use some adult time.”

“Yeah, me too,” Clint turned the seat, locking it into place as he ran through the pre-checks.

*****

Darcy could feel Wanda watching her, even with her eyes closed. The howling of the wind outside of the jet had lulled her into a half sleep, her daughter sound asleep against her side, but it seemed that neither teen could sleep.

“It’s gonna be okay, Wanda,” Darcy reached out her hand towards the girl, her eyes still closed. Wanda gently took her hand and Darcy squeezed. “I know this is a lot.”

“It’s better than we had,” the girl said quietly, linking their fingers together and leaning her head back against the side of the jet.

“Still,” Darcy shrugged, peeking over at the girl with one eye in the darkness. “New is always a little scary.”

“You’re so calm,” Wanda whispered, her eyes locked onto Darcy’s, the tiniest tendrils of her power slipping around their closed fingers. Darcy gave the wisps the barest of acknowledgement, before ignoring them. “How do you do it?”

“I’ve got my family around me,” the older woman shrugged. “When Hannah and I moved to New York we had Jane and Thor with us, and now we have the whole team. You’ve got us,” she squeezed the girl’s hand, a small smile on her face. “It’s all going to be fine.”

“Pietro,” the girl snuck a glance at her brother, who was busy pestering Clint where he was trying to pilot the jet to the coordinates that Tony had sent him earlier that day. “The two of us haven’t had much since our parents,” she sighed and looked back towards Darcy and Hannah. “Since they died.”

“My mom washed her hands of me when I told her I was pregnant,” Darcy told her quietly. She and Clint had talked about it, but not anything in depth. “Ignored that I had a degree, that I finished school, had a job, and could take care of myself and Hannah. She was pissed that I’d gotten myself into trouble, and hadn’t tracked the father down.”

“I thought that Clint was Hannah’s father,” Wanda tipped her head to the side, giving the little girl tucked into her mother’s side a long look.

“He is,” Darcy smiled. “But we weren’t some insta-family. Clint and I hooked up when he was on assignment in New Mexico and I was interning with Jane.” She could still smell the dry desert and whiskey breath that reminded her of that night. “To say we were intoxicated would be an understatement, and well, that was all it was for five years.”

“How’d you and Hawkeye find each other again?” the girl let her head tilt down against Darcy’s shoulder, mirroring how Hannah was curled. “Did you look for him?”

“I should have,” she closed her eyes and remembered the warmth that had settled in her stomach when he had caught her eye that night, tipping his glass towards her. “I should have tried to find him the second the test turned blue, but I didn’t,” she leaned her head against the crown of Wanda’s and sighed. “I was angry and determined to show my mother I could do it on my own, and still succeed.”

“You did,” Wanda told her.

“And my mother couldn’t have cared less,” Darcy rolled her eyes. Her mother had washed her hands of her, and had meant it. “Anyway, to answer your question, fate pushed us together. Tony offered Jane something she couldn’t or wouldn't refuse, and we moved to New York from London. Clint was standing in the common room of the Tower when Hannah and I arrived. I punched him in the face.”

Pietro slid down on the bench, cuddling up behind Wanda. “Really?” he laughed, hugging his sister tightly as he joined the conversation. “You hit the Hawk? That’s awesome.”

“I sometimes have impulse control issues,” Darcy sighed. “I shouldn’t have done it, but I did. He wouldn’t let me go, he just kept at it, asking about Hannah, sending his best friend to plead his case, and now, I can’t imagine living without him.”

“He loves you so much,” Wanda whispered.

“And I love him too, more than I ever thought I could love someone that wasn’t Hannah,” she pressed a kiss against her daughter’s head. “He send you over here for a reason? We getting close?”

“About twenty minutes,” Pietro leaned back, his arms still around his sister’s waist. “He asked for you.”

“Right,” Darcy carefully extracted herself from the little girl curled up into her, helping Wanda slide into her place and made her way up to the front of the jet. “You summoned me, Mr. Barton?” She strapped herself into the co-pilot’s chair, and accepted the hand held out to her.

“Just needed the kid to go away,” Clint shrugged. “Not that I didn’t want you, I just,” he sighed. “He’s bugging the shit out of me.”

“What he do?” Darcy threaded her fingers through the Hawks and leaned back in the chair, her feet out as far in front of her as she could stretch with the harness in place.

“Just, questions and needling, and bugging me about everything, and poking at stuff, and he moves way too fast, and touches everything, and I needed my girl and for his sister to entertain him,” the wind blew out of Clint’s sails as he gave her his best puppy eyes. “We are totally asking Tony to stick them on the opposite side of the compound.”

“With his speed, you really think that’ll help?” she kissed the back of his hand, her thumb rubbing circles in the webbing between his thumb and forefinger.

“No,” Clint whined. “But you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

*****

Clint dropped their bags inside the door to the apartment that they had been given, and flicked on the lights. It was nice for one person, the furniture was upscale, and there was a big screen TV over the fireplace in the living room. It was miniscule for three people. The small galley kitchen was off to one side, and a short hallway lead to the single bedroom and bathroom. He let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall, letting Darcy carry Hannah through the door and gently put her down on the couch, the little girl still out for the count.

“Well,” he scratched the back of his head. “It could be worse,” he shrugged and went for the kitchen, opening cabinets, checking for dishes and sundries. “I mean, at least we have our own room?”

“It’s fine, Clint,” Darcy wound her arms around his waist, and leaning against his back. “You think Pietro and Wanda can handle Lucky for the night?” she whispered into his back. “I mean, he can be a great, big bed hog, and he smells like horse.”

“They can handle it,” he held her hands to his stomach and took a long breath, just enjoying her closeness. “You think you can handle me being your bed hog?”

“You mean I get a real bed and not a lumpy old couch that’s probably been around since the early eighties, and smells like other people's butts?” Darcy rubbed her face into the back of his t-shirt. “Take me to bed or lose me forever, Hawk.”

“Your wish is my command,” Clint turned in her embrace and took her face between his hands. “Come to bed Mrs. Hawk,” he pulled her face to him, leaving a long, slow kiss against her lips. “Think you can be quiet enough not to wake the munchkin?”

“You gonna do that thing?” she asked against his lips. “That one thing that you’ve been promising?”

“Only if you can keep it down,” he bit at her mouth, leaving little stinging kisses that he slowly soothed with the tip of his tongue.

“Like a church mouse,” Darcy smiled into his lips. “I’ll be so quiet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have now entered into the space between Age of Ultron and Civil War... Yes, we are heading towards the Accords, it cannot be helped... Though I am happy to entertain ideas for the coming chapters, and predictions on how this is all going to go. The comment box below is ready and waiting for your input.


	26. This Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a little late with this chapter this week. Real life is a total bitch sometimes. That's all I'm saying.
> 
> Much love to my beta, Kacie. You put up with all kinds of stuff from me, and just keep kicking, and kicking my ass. And I love you for it.
> 
> Enjoy.

Handle With Care

Chapter 26: This Moment

The bedroom door made no sound as Hannah pushed it closed behind her, the silhouettes of her parents lying in the bed, her father’s arm thrown over her mommy, his face pressed close into her hair, quiet snores coming from both of them. She crawled up onto the bed on the far side, careful not to pull at the covers and wake them up. She wiggled under the covers, her own face snuggling into the back of her father’s shoulders, rubbing her cheeks against the softness of his t-shirt, and swiftly falling back into dreamland.

“Good thing we got dressed before we fell asleep,” Darcy whispered to her boyfriend when she could hear her daughter's breathing even out. She carefully turned in Clint’s arms, nosing into his chest as he hummed sleepily. “I’m gonna go right ahead and say that it’s a practice we need to follow religiously.”

The archer tucked her into his body, pulling one of her legs over his hips as he rolled them so she was sleeping halfway on top of him, humming low in his chest as she scooted just a little closer so she could reach past him. Darcy tucked a long curl behind Hannah’s ear, the little girl following the warmth of her mother’s skin, nudging her cheek against her fingers, her hands curling around her father’s upper arm, her tiny hands gripping the rise and swell of his bicep. “Yep,” Clint kissed the top of his little girl’s head. “Night, babe,” he snuggled down into the embrace of his girls, smiling as Darcy placed a series of small kisses against his chest. They might be a little squished, but he was more than happy to be home.

*****

Sunlight streamed through the curtainless windows, burning into Darcy’s tightly closed eyes until she gave up and rolled out of bed; leaving her lover and their daughter tucked closely together, Hannah’s little face pressed into Clint’s stomach, her arms fisted into his shirt, blocking out the sun. She tripped over shoes that had been hastily discarded the night before, hopping through the door, only to stop at the sight that greeted her.

“Huh,” she tilted her head to the side, arms crossed under her bust as she leaned on the wall just outside of the bedroom door. The couch had been pulled out sometime in the night and both Wanda and Pietro were curled up on the naked matress, their heads rested on the displaced couch cushions. Pietro was hogging most of the bed, his body sprawled over more than two thirds of the mattress, one leg pinning his sister’s legs to the foldout. The boy’s mouth was wide open as he snored. Wanda was curled as tightly as she could get in the corner of the couch, her arms tucked underneath her chin, hair falling over her shoulders and into her face. Darcy smiled down at them, pushing herself off the wall she passed Lucky sleeping on the living room chair, giving the dog a scratch behind his ears.

The little galley kitchen was a joke for three people, but the foot of counter space between the stove and refrigerator held a brand new coffee maker so it could have been worse. She rinsed the pot before filling it with lukewarm water and pouring it into the back of the maker. It took a couple of tries, but she found a full bag of ground coffee tucked in the back of the same cabinet that held a full complement of spices and a glass jar of what looked like her own hot chocolate mix from the apartment at the tower. A quick spin of the lid confirmed her suspicions. Tony was a fucking softy. Grounds went into the filter, and she flicked the switch on the coffee maker, with a small smile on her face.

She was still grinning down at the little piece of paper she had taped on the inside of the lid with her measurements, when a rush of cool air went past her, and a warm mug of coffee was placed at her elbow. “Sleep well?” she picked up the mug and took a deep breath of the brew, her eyes flicking up at the silver haired teen, who had hopped up on her counter, his own mug held between his hands.

“Wanda couldn’t sleep in the new room alone,” Pietro shrugged, blowing across the top of his cup. “We didn’t think you’d mind.” He looked up at her for a fraction of a second before his eyes went right back down into the depths of his coffee. His shoulder were held hunched up tight to his ears, and it pulled at something deep inside of Darcy, the same cord that sang in her heart as when Hannah’s lip started to quiver.

She reached over and cupped the boy’s cheek, his head falling minutely into the warmth of her hand for just a moment before he pulled back, taking a drink from his mug. “I don’t mind,” she smiled sadly at him before leaning back against the opposite counter. “But unless we can find bigger accommodations, this can’t be permanent,” she looked around the tiny living space, the single couch that was really little more than a love seat, and the one leather chair. With the couch pulled out, there was no room to move at all, the end of the mattress butting up against the fireplace.

“Understood,” he said into the depths of his mug. Breathing in the rich scent, just like Darcy had done. “Wanda steals the covers.”

Darcy snorted into her own cup. “Really?” she looked over to where Wanda was still clinging to the edge of the bed, Lucky having taken Pietro’s spot, taking up an obscene amount of the space the teen had left. “That’s what was happening?”

“And she snores,” Pietro flashed her a quicksilver smile, humor flickering across his eyes. “Like a freight train, it's horrible, really.”

“We’ll see what we can come up with,” she put her mug down on the counter, turning to finish her exploration of the ingredients that filled the cramped cupboard space, silently cataloging what she found. “How do pancakes sound?”

“You don’t make yours in the microwave, do you?” Pietro slurped at his cooling coffee, his feet kicking back and forth against the door of the cabetent below him, like he couldn’t stand to be still.

“Fuck no,” Darcy gave him a dirty look over her shoulder. “I am appalled and insulted. I make mine from scratch, thank you very much. And none of that just add water boxed shit either.”

The teen raised his hand in surrender. “Got it, momma,” he grinned at her rolled eyes. “Wanda would love pancakes, I can’t remember the last time we had any.”

“Well,” she pushed the flour up onto the counter above her and reached into the back of the sugar. “If you could find a griddle or big flat pan, I’ll whip this together.”

“I can do that.” 

They worked silently as Darcy folded half a teaspoon of vanilla into the eggs before adding the wet ingredients to the dry. “The Captain wants you both to head to medical this morning,” she said as she tested the griddle, flicking a little water onto the hot surface, watching it pop and bubble excitedly. “Clint and I put it off as long as we could, staying with the circus longer than Steve really wanted, but…”

“Yeah,” the young man slumped against the counter and looked into the bottom of his nearly empty cup. “Wanda isn’t overly fond of doctors.”

Darcy nodded, taking note of the fact that he always mentioned preferences under the auspice of referring to his sister. She would have to talk with Sam about that, provided he was at the Facility, and not running down a new lead for Steve. “I can’t imagine why,” she laughed humorlessly. She tipped her mug back, draining the last of the coffee from the bottom, and putting it down, pouring small round bits of batter onto the griddle. “Do you want me to come with you?” she poured a fresh cup of coffee, breathing in the steam.

“Wanda might,” he shrugged, holding out his mug to her and letting her fill it before he retreated back to where he had been sitting on the counter. “You make good coffee.”

“You like this, wait until the pancakes are done,” she smiled at him over the top of her mug.

“If you’re nice to us,” Pietro’s eyes flashed over to where his sister was stirring on the pullout couch. “We might never leave.”

“Clint will kill you,” Wanda’s sleep roughened voice sang from the living room.

*****

The heavy metal music was like a beacon, pulling Darcy through the hallways in search of Tony. She could have just asked Friday, but quite frankly the new AI gave her the heebie jeebies. Given the choice, she would rather wander aimlessly around the twisted labyrinth of hallways than talk to the voice that came down from the ceiling. It wasn’t Jarvis, and she was mourning her friend, she didn’t care what they said about Vision. He wasn’t Jarvis either as far as she was concerned. He seemed nice, in the five seconds she had talked to him as she left the medical ward. Jarvis had called her Ms. Lewis, Vision called her Darcy. It was stupid, because she had begged Jarvis to do just that, but it bugged her. Plus, he had told her to ask Friday where Tony was. She wouldn’t do it, the voice made her think of a creepy, naughty secretary fantasy, and she just couldn’t talk to it.

She placed her hand on the door that barely contained the screaming noise behind it, and smirked when the light turned green and the door unlocked. Tony stood in front of the skeleton of a new suit, his welding mask flipped up over the top of his head as he flicked through schematics floating in the air over his metal workbench. Darcy waved over at Dum-E and U, only one of whom waved back, but it brought a grin to her face.

“So, what you working on?” she hopped up on the bench to Tony’s left, shouting over the music and poking the inventor harshly on his shoulder. “And turn the fucking music down, I could hear it all the way in medical.”

“Friday, turn it down to eleven,” Tony called out, rolling his eyes at Darcy as she continued to poke him. “Remind me to improve the sound proofing on the lab.”

“Yes, boss,” the AI replied. Darcy suppressed a shiver that tripped down her back, shrugging it off and resisting the urge of rubbing her hands clean on her jeans.

“Something wrong?” he put the metal bits that looked like it might eventually be the facemask of a new suit down on the table and leaned against the table next to her.

“Miss Jarvis,” she shrugged. “Also, the apartment?” she tipped her head at her friend, blinking her eyes at him impishly. “It’s too small.”

“They were designed for a single soldier, Darce,” Tony picked up a watch and flipped it over her wrist, pressing the face once it was secure. She sucked in a breath as it opened out and crept around to cover her hand, folding itself around her fingers, the center of her palm glowing warmly. “Fits,” he picked up her hand and looked at the joints. “It wasn’t meant for a family of three.”

“Five,” Darcy corrected with a small smile. “Wanda and Pietro slept on the pullout.”

“They have a place,” Tony pushed a series of buttons and the watch repulsor folded back into itself and was just a watch again. “Two, actually, since I didn’t think they’d wanna share a bed, or a bathroom.”

“They’re sharing,” she looked at the watch, the hands moving smoothly around the face. Tony might occasionally be an enormous asshat, but he was an incredible inventor. “All five of us are sharing a one bedroom seven hundred square foot apartment, and while it’s better than sleeping on the couch, and we’re thankful for it…”

“You have five people in living quarters meant for one soldier,” Tony nodded and pulled the watch off her wrist, flipping it over, and fiddling with something.

“Exactly,” Darcy smiled at her friend as he pulled up a new schematic up on his StarkPad, the silvery blue lines hovering over the workbench between them. “Hannah slept with us, crawled into bed about halfway through the night when Wanda and Pietro came in to sleep in the living room.”

“No privacy,” he nodded, tweaking the schematic before doing something to the watch.

“None, like less than none,” Darcy let Tony pull her hand back to him, fastening the newly fiddled with watch around her wrist. “Wanda walked in on Clint and I getting dressed, Hannah used Pietro’s toothbrush, and I’m not entirely sure I’m wearing my own underwear.”

“Kinky,” Tony growled, earning him a slap across the back of his head. “Press this button,” he pointed at the button he had pressed the first time. She looked at him with a quirk of her brow. “Just do it.” She pressed the button and they both watched the gauntlet unfold around her hand.

“More than you wanted to know?” she wiggled her hand, the repulsor fitting like an expensive leather glove, the joints tight but flexible.

“No, no,” he turned her wrist over and ran his fingers over each finger, seeming to feel what he wanted as he nodded. Tony hopped up on the bench next to her, putting his feet up on the stool he hand been sitting on, the welding mask still sitting up on his head bobbed as he settled. “I’ll figure something out,” he rubbed the space between his eyebrows and pressed the series of buttons that released her hand from the gauntlet, leaving the watch around her wrist.

Darcy sagged against the bench, leaning back on her hands carefully, the watch just a little heavier than she thought it would be. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, shortstack,” Tony bumped his shoulder against hers. “Wear that around, see how it feels long term.”

“You are not building me a suit,” she leaned down so she could catch his eyes, where he had them turned toward the floor.

“Why would I waste my time?” the inventor scoffed. “You’re just a crash test dummy, I need someone who will beat the shit out of my delicate instruments.”

“And there it is,” Darcy kissed Tony on the cheek and hopped off the workbench. “I’ll let you work, metal head,” she shook the watch on her wrist, feeling the smooth metal links rub over her skin. “I’ll be back to make you eat lunch.”

“I’ll have something for you by then,” he waved her off, dropping the welding mask down over his eyes with a flick of his head, not even waiting for the door to shut before he fired up his blowtorch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to send all my love and thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story so far, it has turned out to be a much longer journey than I thought it would be. Thank you.


	27. State of Grace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday! Here's a new chapter.
> 
> Thank you, Kacie for making this all possible, and putting up with my crazy story that apparently has no end.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 27: State of Grace

Darcy found herself finally having to talk to Friday about something, for lack of any other options. Steve assured her that Sam was on base, and even showed her where his room was, but beyond that, he wasn’t any help. She wandered around for a good hour before giving up and looking down at her new Ironman watch. For a repulsor gauntlet, it actually kept pretty good time. She needed to talk to Sam before she had to go feed the scientists three, and she was quickly running out of time. She took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, blowing air slowly out between tightly pursed lips.

“Friday?” Darcy squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the AI to answer.

“Yes, Ms. Lewis?” the lilting voice filtered down from the speakers.

“Could you locate Airman First Class Wilson?” Darcy let out a long sigh as the panel on the wall lit up and showed her location, with an additional dot indicating where Sam was. In his fucking room, where she had stood and knocked less than an hour before. “Thank you Friday,” she said absently.

“You are most welcome, Ms. Lewis,” the AI answered, making Darcy cringe. “I am pleased that I could assist.”

Darcy grumbled under her breath about stupid computer programs not being able to be pleased as she turned on her heels and stalked back to the living quarters to find Sam.

She didn’t know Sam particularly well. He hadn’t made many appearances at the Tower in her time there, and when he was in residence, he was usually holled up with Steve. Darcy wasn’t supposed to know that the Falcon was running errands for Steve, looking for the man known as the Winter Soldier, but she did. Mostly because when she was bored, she was a nosey little shit, and partially because Steve never logs out of his emails or locks his phone. If she had followed a couple of leads via the interwebs with a little help from her favorite AI, and sent them to the good Captain via Jarvis… well, that was between her and Jarvis, and had nothing to do with feeling guilty about snooping on a national icon’s phone.

The corridor that contained all of the living quarters on base was bisected by the main hall to the common area, which included the Avengers gym, a kitchen, and two living rooms. One specifically for movie viewing. Sam’s quarters were on the opposite side of the main hall from the Hawk’s room, and almost all the way to the end of the long corridor. Darcy was a little thankful that Tony had kept with the industrial look, and not the red and blue carpet that lined the halls of the Tower. The heels of her boots clicked along the polished concrete floor as her eyes locked on the door at the end of the hall and took deep breaths.

Darcy rapped her knuckles on the solid wood door, and waited. She couldn’t hear anything from the other side, but then if the tiny living room was anything like the one in her rooms, it had heavy expensive carpeting. She waited a full minute before knocking again.

The door was swung open by a bleary eyed man, who blinked owlishly at her for a long moment, before cocking his head to the side and holding the door open. “Darcy, right?” Sam followed her into the living room, peeling off into the kitchen to pull down a glass and filling it with water from the sink. “What can I do for you?”

“If I caught you at a bad time,” she accepted the glass that he handed her, and sat down at the counter, while he leaned against the other side.

“No,” he just shook his head and slammed the water back, going to refill his glass. “It’s just been a long couple of weeks.”

“That it has,” Darcy nodded, taking a small sip of the cold water she had been given. “Can I ask you a couple of questions, I know we don’t really know each other, but…”

“Shoot,” the pararescue officer waved his half empty cup at her. “I’m all ears.”

“So, I expect that Steve has told you about the Maximoff twins?” she hedged, tipping her head to the side to try and read the man in front of her. Sam just nodded. “Right, so they’ve been with Clint and I since they got back from Sokovia.”

“Steve said,” the airman set his glass in the sink and leaned back against the cabinets facing Darcy, nodding again. “He’s worried about them, they’re just kids.”

“They’re eighteen,” Darcy argued. Sam just raised a brow. “They aren’t kids, the stuff they’ve seen, things that have been done to them, I’d wager they haven’t been kids for a good long time.”

“Okay,” he nodded, holding his hands up in defence. “I didn’t mean to step on toes, I’m just saying, they’re young.”

“Right,” she looked down into her glass, slowly swirling the water around as she gathered her thoughts. “So, I’ve noticed that Pietro tends to disassociate?”

“How do you mean?” Sam crossed one ankle over the other and looked at her with an assessing look that made Darcy think of all the psychologists she had seen over the years.

“He uses his sister as a shield,” Darcy flapped her hands about, trying to grasp at a way to explain. “Okay, so this morning, Pietro and I were in the kitchen making pancakes, and I asked if he would like them, and his response was to tell me that Wanda would love them.”

Sam nodded, his hands on the counter on either side of his hips, his fingers rubbing along the underside of the marble. “So, here's the thing about kids who have gone through trauma together,” he took a long slow breath and released it. “They tend to become a little codependent,” he tipped his head to the side and looked at Darcy. “It's good that they have found you and Clint to be trustworthy, and have bonded with you. It's gonna be a while before they are able to own their own feelings, even with you, maybe even to themselves.” He pushed off the counter and ran his hands over his head, dipping his fingers into the hollows around his eyes. “They’ve been through years of very intense trauma. Pietro putting his sister first, giving her a voice before he gives himself one? I wouldn’t worry too much about it, lots of kids do the same thing. I’ve seen it a lot with siblings whose parents go through a divorce, and with kids who are orphaned. Their sibling becomes their whole support system.”

“So, let him do it?” she asked, not entirely sure she believed what she was hearing.

“For now, yep,” Sam shrugged. “He’s dealing with a lot, not the least of which is the breakdown of his entire belief system over the last few years. My advice is, let it go, have them come talk to me at some point once they’ve settled, and keeping being there for them.”

“I can do that,” Darcy nodded and pushed her glass across the counter to him. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” the airman shrugged again, putting her glass in the sink with his.

“Okay, now I’m off to feed the scientists.”

“How come when you said that I had a vision of angry tigers?”

“Because you are a very smart man,” Darcy winked at him as she slipped out the front door to his apartment.

*****

The mid-March sunshine was just starting to feel like the weather was ready to turn to spring. Sun shone on Darcy’s face as she sat in the grass next to Clint, her head on his shoulder as they watched their daughter run around the spacious inner courtyard the base boasted. Hannah chased Lucky back and forth as the dog rounded up tennis balls that Wanda was levitating for the dog. Pietro was on ball shagging duty, racing up to the various roofs and balconies when Wanda threw the fuzzy green balls with just a little too much enthusiasm.

“This is nice,” Darcy turned her head to rub her face into Clint’s shoulder, taking in his scent of leather and gun smoke cut with the musky warmth of his aftershave.

“Yep,” the archer smiled and then tensed a bit as one of the rogue balls flew at the two of them. He caught it easily in one hand, and lobbed it back to Wanda, who gave them both a sheepish look. “Remind me again why we're in here and not out on the training field? I mean, there's plenty of space here, but there are trees and stuff out there.”

“You just want to go climb a tree,” she knocked her boyfriend with her shoulder, resettling her head against his chest. His arms were warm and secure around her waist. “Tony said he was doing some kind of construction, or something,” she shrugged as she tucked herself in close to Clint. “He was a little shady about the whole thing, but I was given explicit instructions not to go out to the training field, it wasn’t safe.”

“You know,” Clint pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I don’t even really care.”

“Yeah,” Darcy smiled into the soft flannel of his button down shirt. “Me neither.”

“What are the odds that the twins will sleep in their own apartments tonight?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

“Zero,” his girlfriend smirked. “Wanda dragged bedding into the living room after lunch, along with both of their bags,” she tipped her face up to look at the archer, who sighed heavily. “I think we’re stuck with them for the long run.”

“It's dangerous adopting strays, darling,” Clint pecked her pursed lips. “I should know.”

“Don’t know, Mr. Hawk,” she sat up just enough so that she could capture his lips fully against hers. “Worked out pretty well for you so far.” Clint just made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat as he let her take full possession of his mouth, her tongue delicately licking along his lips and between his teeth.

“So,” he pulled back just a little from her, their breath still intermingling. “You think the twins can handle Lucky and Hannah for an hour?”

“I think that Wanda would be thrilled to babysit,” Darcy grinned.

“Then, shall we, Mrs. Hawk?” he asked, reluctantly pulling away from her and standing.

“We shall,” she slapped her hand into his open palm, and let him pull her to her feet, giggling as he brushed the dried bits of grass off her butt.

*****

Two days later, Darcy and Clint stood on the balcony just outside of the main combat gymnasium for the base, looking down at the area that had once been decked out in training equipment and a full fledged army obstacle course. In its place now stood a massive two story home.

“What did you do?” Darcy’s hand was held firmly over her mouth, muffling her words, unable to tear her eyes away from the beautiful home, clad in red siding and white trim. It looked like one of those houses from suburban fantasies.

“I solved your housing problem,” Tony cocked a bow at the gobsmacked couple. “You don’t like it?”

“Tony,” she breathed out, from where she was standing above the house she could see that the billionaire had even furnished the house. “It’s way too much.”

“Nonsense,” he pulled her hand away from her face and deposited a set of keys into it, curling her hands around them. “Now, it's just the basics right now, I haven’t had time to integrate Friday into the house yet, so as it stands, it's just a house. Give me a few days, a week at most, and it’ll be fully integrated into base security. Just like the Tower, but you know, with a yard.”

“Tony,” Darcy looked dumbly at the keys in her hand.

“Nope,” the mechanic just shook his head and started to back away towards the glass doors that lead into the gym. “It's yours, four bedrooms plus a bonus room that could be a bedroom, three and a half baths, plenty of room for all the gang in the living room,” he was nearly through the doors. “Oh, and I had them ship Clint’s flat screen up, along with all of Hannah’s furniture and your bed. Okay, have fun.” Tony closed the doors and disappeared.

“What just happened?” Clint looked from the house, it had fucking curtains in the windows, back to his girlfriend, and back again.

“Tony built us a house,” she sagged against her archer, the keys in her hands hard and warm as she clenched her fingers around them. “Holy fuck, Tony built us a house!”

“On the training field,” he pulled them both away from the railing of the balcony and towards the doors that Tony had exited through. “What the hell is he going to do about training grounds?”

“Really,” Darcy just snorted. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“What? It's not like we’ve unpacked here, all we need to do is throw the dirty clothes in a bag and move in,” Clint shrugged. “No heavy lifting required.”

“Clint,” she stopped in the middle of the hall, just looking at her lover. “Tony built us a house. I complained about the fact that I was possibly not wearing my own underthings cause of super tight quarters, and Tony’s response was to build us a four plus bedroom house.”

“Yeah,” the archer just shrugged. “I’m still processing that. In the meantime, I’m thinking about the fact that we are going to have our own bedroom again, and possibly a bed that isn’t a queen.”

“He said my bed’s in there,” Darcy nodded. “It’s a king.”

“I know, Mrs. Hawk.”

“Wait, did he say he was instaling Friday?” she rounded on Clint, her eyes wide. “No. No, nono no.”

“Base security, Darce,” Clint shrugged. “He built us a house on the training field, I say we let him do what he wants.”

“The creepy naughty secretary is gonna watch us fuck,” Darcy grumbled.

“And we will enact very strict privacy protocols,” he curled his arm around her shoulders and directed her towards their temporary living quarters. “Let's worry about that after we’ve taking the kids to look at the new house.”

“Tony built us a house,” Darcy said again. “And it's fucking massive.”

“Yeah he did,” Clint lead her down the hallway, kissing her temple. “Come on, Mrs. Hawk.”

“I like it when you call me that,” she smiled up at him.

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three cheers for the Hawks having their own bedroom!


	28. There's No Place Like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Clint move their motley family into the house that Tony built.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! No, I did not forget about all of you. No, I did not abandon my Fan Fiction. I have been working really hard on getting my original novel written and finished. But I'm back now, and will be updating regularly. I'm so sorry for being gone so long.
> 
> So, I'm back. Handle With Care and Frosty Throne will be updated regularly, and I thank you all for being patient waiting for new chapters.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 28: There’s No Place Like Home

Darcy leaned on the wall leading into the living room watching Wanda patiently braiding Hannah’s hair, while the little girl played a lively game of Old Maid with Pietro. The little girl was laughing madly while the speedy teen blatantly cheated.

“You shouldn't do that,” Wanda carefully smoothed a lock of flyaway blonde hair into the intricate plait. “You will teach her that is how we act.”

“Oh come one,” Pietro rolled his eyes and deftly shuffled through the cards again, the movement pulling Hannah’s hair askew again. Wanda huffed and re worked the section. “She’s four.”

“Four and a half,” Hannah corrected, playing a new card. “Piet is funny, it's okay. And mommy’s watching, anyhow.”

Both teens froze and sat straight up. “I’m sorry Mrs. Hawk,” Pietro started to clean up the cards, a crimson red blush creeping up his face. “We were just having fun.”

“No worries,” she pushed herself off the wall and dropped herself down onto the couch, the cushions still strewn around the room from where the twins hadn’t put them away from the night before. “But it's time to clean up. Daddy and I have something to show you, Hannah bear.” She tucked a curl behind her daughter’s ear. “Why don’t you run to the other room and pack up?”

 

“We moving?” Hannah hopped out of Wanda’s lap and ran to her room. “Did Uncle Tony find us a bigger apartment? Am I getting my own room?”  
“Are you leaving?” Wanda asked when Hannah disappeared, her face guarded, and her eyes fixed on her fingers in her lap. “I told you we shouldn’t have intruded,” she pushed to her feet, giving her brother a nasty look.

“Hey, none of that,” Darcy caught her hand and pulled her back down to the couch. “You guys need to pack to, we are all moving.”

Pietro slowly looked up from where he was carefully placing the cards back into their box. “We are?”

“Yep,” Darcy slapped her thighs and stood. “Chop, chop kiddo’s, Clint’s waiting outside to show you something.”

*****

Clint waited by the back door of the facility, looking over at their new home, still not entirely sure he could believe that it was really his. Even after years of living in the Tower, and having Tony give the Avengers what equated to an unlimited budget, he just couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that it was his life. And adding into that moving into a house with the woman he loved more than reason, and their daughter? He was still trying to catch up when Darcy came through the glass doors of the facility, their daughter on her hip, and the Maximoff twins following her with the family duffle bags over their shoulders.

“So,” he scratched the back of his neck and pulled Darcy against his side. “Uh, welcome home?” He pulled a couple of sets of keys out of his pocket and dropped one into each other the teens hands. “There are four bedrooms on the second floor, two without furniture right now, so pick your room, and we’ll see about moving beds in and stuff,” he shrugged. “Pepper left you tablets, so just order what you want, I guess.”

“This is our house?” Wanda’s eyes traveled from the blood red door, to the white trim on the windows, then all the way up to the black shingles on the roof. “Really?”

“Yep,” Darcy pushed her key into the lock and turned it, the door swing inward. Her boots clicked on the marble tiles of the entryway, echoing up the two story foyer. “Now go pick rooms, we have a lot to discuss.

Two duffles hit the floor as Pietro disappeared up the steps. “I want the one next to the stairs,” he shouted over the railing, then flew down the steps, grabbed his bag and disappeared again. “Miss. Hannah,” he held out his hands to the little girl in her mother’s arms. She went to him without hesitation. “Your room’s even purple,” he disappeared up the steps with her, and her delighted squeals from up the stairs made Darcy laugh.

“You get used to it,” Wanda just shrugged and handed Darcy her bag, following her brother up the steps at a slower pace.

“Yeah,” Clint put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and kissed her temple. “So, this is home.”

“You know this is bigger than the entire apartment building I grew up in?” she leaned back into Clint’s chest, sighing as she looked around. “I think we have three living rooms.”

“And two walk in closets in the master bedroom,” he nodded.

“Race you to our room,” she pulled away from him, racing up the steps, leaving him to grab their bags. 

*****

Darcy snuggled down into the warm sheets of their bed, her face pressed into Clint’s shoulder. “I missed this,” she turned over, looking up at the dark ceiling of their room and listened to the silence. “I almost forgot what it was like to be able to turn over in bed without worrying about falling off the couch or squishing Hannah.”

“Yep,” Clint shoved Lucky off his legs and tried to roll away from the dog. “Somehow, all feels the same to me.” Lucky scooted further up the bed, panting in his owner’s face as he resettled. “Remind me why we didn’t let Hannah take Lucky into her room?” he pushed at the dog again, who just stepped on his chest and dropped his furry body into the small space between Clint and Darcy.

“Because they would never sleep,” she scratched the dog behind his ears. “Plus, I’ve kinda gotten used to him. He slept on the couch with me for the entire time we were with the circus.”

“But,” the archer just sighed. “This is our first night in our new house, with a room all to ourselves, and no Hannah hogging the covers, I just…”

“Would you like me to kick Lucky out?” Darcy teased, ruffling her boyfriends hair. “You want some ‘Hawk along time?’”

“It would be nice,” he huffed as the dog stood up and sat down on his chest, his long tail settling across Clint’s face. “I don’t think we’re going to be getting any sleep with Lucky in here, either.”

Darcy chuckled, pulling the dog by his collar, her other hand firmly over her lips at her boyfriends displeased face. “Yeah, I’ll just take him to Pietro’s room,” she snickered as Clint pulled a long golden hair out of his mouth. “For the record, he is your dog.”

“Yeah,” he rolled over and out of bed, headed to the bathroom. “I’m brushing my teeth, I feel like I just made out with a Wookie.”

Darcy beat Clint back to the bedroom. She could hear him swishing mouthwash as she locked the master bedroom’s french doors behind herself. She peeked around the bathroom door before shedding her sleep clothes and slipping under the covers, pulling them all the way up to her chin. “So, Mr. Barton,” she called to Clint, who just grunted in reply. “Now that we’re all alone, what do you plan on doing to me?”

Clint wiped his mouth off on a hand towel and poked his head out of the bathroom. “You naked under there?” she just nodded. “Well, then,” he tossed the towel back into the bathroom and flicked off the light. “I’ll just have to reward your foresight.” He stalked across the bedroom and pulled the covers free of the bed with a quick motion, making Darcy squeak. “Come here,” he crooked his fingers at her, a mischievous grin on his face. She crawled across the bed towards him. He pulled her to her knees and sank his fingers into her hair. “You are beautiful, Mrs. Hawk,” he growled into her mouth. 

“You’re not so bad yourself, Mr. Hawk,” she smiled into his kiss.

*****

Sunday morning dawned entirely too early. Clint clutched his coffee cup in one hand, and pillowed his head on the kitchen counter with the other. Hannah had knocked on their door at ten past six, asking if she and the twins could have chocolate pancakes, since they were home again. Neither Maximoff looked any more thrilled to be out of bed with the sun still cresting the mountains, but the family of five all trooped down the steps after the youngest member. 

Darcy slowly gathered ingredients, the stove having a beautiful griddle set into the middle of the five burner cook-top. If she had been more awake she would be jumping with joy at the miles of counter space and shiny new appliances. As it was, she was squinting at the glass measuring cup, trying to read the etched measurements without her glasses. She rubbed her face with the back of her hand and grabbed her coffee. “I told you she would be knocking.”

“I know, babe,” Clint nodded into his elbow. “But new bed.”

“It’s my old bed,” Darcy dumped the measuring cup full of flour into a big metal bowl. “It’s just in a new room, and has new sheets.”

“Yeah, but,” he just shrugged. “I got nothing.”

“You just wanted shenanigans,” she turned on the griddle and kissed the back of his neck. “They were really good shenanigans, my love.” She molded herself along his back and drank in his scent for a moment. “I kinda love you, like a lot.”

“I love you too,” he turned his head and captured her lips with his own. “This year, it has been the best of my life.”

“Even with fighting killer robots, and losing our home, and getting shot, and everything,” she grinned into his shoulders.

“With meeting Hannah, and having you, and making a family,” he nodded, kissing her again. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Okay, getting shot sucked, but you know.”

“It's been the best year of my life too,” Darcy whispered against his lips.

“Good,” Clint slowly sat up, pulling away from his girlfriend and taking a long drink out of his coffee. “Now, I think I was promised chocolate pancakes, best in New York, right?”

“Damn straight,” she swatted his butt as she rounded the counter. “Pietro,” she shouted, pausing before she started to add the wet and dry ingredients together. “Get your feet off my brand new couch, boy.”

“How does she always know?” they hear from the living room.

“I’m a mom,” Darcy shouted back. “We have our own super powers,” she slowly folded the ingredients together, not noticing the look on her boyfriends face as she does. “And don’t you forget it mister.”

*****

The gym was nearly empty when he dropped down next to his red headed best friend. Clint slowly stretched out his sore muscles, trying to figure out how to start the conversation he had sought her out for. “Darcy told Fury that she wasn’t ready for a ring,” he said, not looking at Natasha as he reached for his toes. “But…”

“Oh finally,” the Widow’s shoulders dropped and she sprawled out on the floor dramatically. “My god, Hawk, took you long enough.”

“Come on,” Clint dropped the pretense of actually being in the gym to work out and crossed his legs, taking a drink from his water bottle. “I had a really crappy marriage, I wasn’t ready to just jump back in.”

“Darcy is not Bobbi,” Natasha said to the ceiling. “And you’ve made her think that boyfriend might be all she was going to get. You made it clear that Bobbi fucked with your head.”

“And she did,” he countered.

“And Darcy is not Bobbi,” she repeated. “And Hannah really wants you guys to get married, she’s been writing ‘Hannah Barton’ in her home schooling books.”

“Really?” the archer just looked at his friend.

“We’ll go into New York this weekend,” Natasha pulled herself to her feet and snatched the water bottle from him. “I know a guy.”

“I was just…”

“Nope,” she shook her head, tucking her earbuds into her ears. “You are not getting Darcy some Cracker Jack, pawn shop ring like you did with Bobbi,” she stretched out her shoulders. “You are coming with me, and getting her a nice ring that she won't be able to say no to.”

“You think she might say no?”

“Not a fucking chance,” the Widow ruffled his hair, then cuffed him across the back of the head. “She might have said she’s not ready for a ring, but that girl has adopted your stupid dog, and the twin, and I think she’s my best girlfriend. It’s novel, I’ve never had a girlfriend.”

“You didn’t want to go ring shopping when I got Bobbi’s,” he just watched his friend who continued to get herself ready for a run.

“I never thought Bobbi was worthy of you,” she shrugged. “Darcy is.”

“Oh,” Clint watched as Natasha queued up her playlist and hit play. “Huh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much!


	29. One Small Step

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the wonderful support.
> 
> As for this chapter, I started it on Tuesday, and was hoping to get it out on Wednesday at the latest, when I woke up with a terrible head cold. I still have it, but I refused to wait another day before I posted. So, I apologize for the lateness of the chapter, and the fact that its shorter than usual. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 29: One Small Step

Clint slid into the passenger’s seat of Natasha’s cherry red Stingray, pulling the door shut behind himself and slipping his mirrored sunglasses over his eyes, and looking over at his friend. “You sure you want to take me to do this?” he asked as she turned the key and put the car into reverse. “I mean, there’s a perfectly good jeweler in town.”

“Nope,” the Widow smoothly transitioned the car into first gear, her fingers firm on the gearshift. “Darcy isn’t getting some half rate diamond from a box jewelry store.”

“She really doesn’t care,” he gripped his seat belt as Natasha pulled onto the highway, flicking through the gears so quickly that he could feel his stomach dropping behind, the needle hitting one hundred in a matter of moments. “Her favorite necklace is still the one that I got her from that machine on Coney Island.”

“Her favorite necklace is the fire-opal that Jane brought her back from Asgard,” the Widow rolled her eyes as she switched lanes. “She had to have the necklace you got her silver plated, because it kept turning her skin green. She loves you, and will love whatever you get her, but she deserves something amazing and beautiful, just like her,” she glanced over the rims of her glasses at her friend, who had slid down in his seat and folded his arms over his chest. “Now shut up and deal with it.”

“I really do love her,” Clint said under his breath. “New York’s just so far away.”

“And we’ll be back by dinner,” Natasha turned up the radio and sighed, letting the stress that had built up since moving to the training facility melt away. “I got you reservations for three at Antonio’s in town for seven.”

“Three?”

“Yes, dumb ass,” she shook her head, eyeing the truck she was fast approaching. “Hannah deserves to be there when you ask her mother to marry you.”

“Right,” the archer nodded, looking over at his friend as she weaved around the slower moving truck. “Um?”

“Your suit is in my apartment,” she supplied. “It's already pressed.”

“Thanks, Tash.”

“Don’t mention it.”

*****

It was always a bit of a crap-shoot when it came to Natasha taking you to a source. It could be anything from a sleazy back alley basement, that sold black market goods, to an upscale Manhattan boutique that catered to the richy rich. Clint watched as the city slid along around him, his friend maneuvering through traffic like her car was water. Nat pulled the Stingray to a stop in front of a slick white marble building and put the car into neutral, pulling the parking brake. 

“We’re here,” she smiled at the valet who pulled the door open for her, offering her a hand out. “Thank you,” she slipped a twenty into his hand and looked back into the car, where Clint was still unbuckling his seat belt. “Come on.”

“We’re here?” he unfolded himself from the low car, shaking the feeling back into his legs. “Where is here?”

“The jewelry I told you about,” Nat tucked her arm into the crook of his elbow and picked a piece of lint from his jacket. “Ana is waiting,” she shook an elegant watch from the cuff of her own coat. “We’re a little late.”

“Late,” Clint rolled his eyes and let her pull her to the towering white doors, that were opened as soon as they stepped up, a painfully thin girl in white held them open, her face completely blank. “You drove a hundred and ten the entire way here.”

“And it took longer than I expected to get you to actually get into the car,” the Widow shrugged, catching the eye of a woman across the room, a mysterious smile sliding over her lips.

“Do you blame me,” he grumbled under his breath, letting her pull him to the tall blonde woman dressed in a milky white suit, who was seated at a marble white desk. “Your drivings in terrifying.”

“Shh,” Natasha pinched his elbow firmly. “Ana,” she dropped Clint’s arm and created the woman, who stood from her desk and kissed Nat on both cheeks. “Eto slishkom dolgo,” (It has been too long) she pulled Clint around to greet Ana.

“Vy slishkom zanyaty,” (You are too busy) Ana turned to Clint and reached for his hands. “Eto dolzhen byt’ znamenityy Clint. Ya slyshal mnogo istoriy.” (You must be the famous Clint. I’ve heard many stories)

“None of it’s true,” he kissed her cheeks and took the chair offered. “Unfortunately, Natasha has told me nothing about you.”

“Natalia,” the woman just tutted.

“What can I say,” Natasha shrugged. “I never thought that my friend here would need your services, yet here we are.”

“Indeed,” Ana folded her hands over the top of the desk, the large center diamond on her finger winked merrily in the light. “Then shall we get down to business, I hear you have a date you cannot be late for this evening.”

“That would be great,” he fidgeted in his seat, the white decor itching at his last nerve. He fought not to pick at the seam of his jeans that was coming loose near his knee. “I assume that Nat has told you what I’m looking for.”

“Ah,” Ana pulled a drawer open in her desk and placed a dark blue velvet square down on the top of the white marble. “She said that you are finally asking your beautiful girlfriend to be your wife. For that I must congratulate you,” she turned in her chair and pulled a tray off a low shelf. “That Darcy, I believe?” she waited for both Clint and Natasha to nod. “Is a little non conventional, and also no nonsense,” she laid three rings down on the blue velvet. “I believe she would appreciate any one of these.”

He picked up each one, turning them over in his hands, looking over at Natasha for guidance. “She’ll like the three stone halo,” Nat picked up the ring in question. “The diamonds aren’t too big.” The Widow handed the ring over the Ana. “Can we trade the two side stones out for amethyst?”

“Of course,” the jeweler took the ring and disappeared into the back.

“Amethyst?”

“Its purple,” Nat crossed her ankles and leaned back in her chair. “Darcy will love it.”

*****

Clint tucked the small black velvet ring box deep into the pocket of his bomber jacket, pulling the collar up around his ears as the nearly summer storm started to blow across the compound. Clouds hand been growing heavy as Natasha had pushed her Stingray up over a hundred, in order to get them home ahead of the rain.

He shook the adrenaline from his head, and turned the key in the front door of his house. Inside it was still and quiet, which meant that the rest of their little family was off in other parts of the Avenger’s compound. Clint rolled his shoulders and dropped his keys in the little bowl by the door. “Jarvis?” he scratched the back of his neck and made his way up the steps. Tony had insisted that they have an AI in the house, but Darcy had put her foot down about Friday. She didn’t like Tony’s new assistant. The version of Jarvis in the house wasn’t exactly the same as the one that Ultron had tried to destroy, and had ultimately become Vision, but it was close enough, that Darcy let the AI be.

“How can I be of assistance, Agent Barton?” Clint would never tell Tony, but the sound of the English butler from the speakers around the house made him feel better. He didn’t have the same aversion to Friday that Darcy did, but he absolutely liked Jarvis better.

“Where is Hannah right now,” he slipped the ring box out of this pocket and tucked it into the back of his underwear drawer.

“Ms. Hannah is currently with Airman Wilson,” Jarvis told him. “She is completing her afternoon’s lessons, and is due home in half an hour.”

“Thanks,” Clint hung his jacket in the closet and kicked off his boots, dropping down onto the bed and sinking into the mattress. “Let Sam know that I’m going to come get her a little early.”

“Need I remind you of the importance of Ms. Hannah’s schooling,” Jarvis tutted through the speakers, making the archer roll his eyes. “She must catch up to her year mates by the end of the summer if she is to begin Kindergarten.”

“This is a special occasion, J-man,” he sighed and hauled himself up off the bed, continuing to shed his clothes as he made his way to the master bathroom. “And it’ll just be a like half an hour.”

“The message has been relayed.”

“Thanks, man,” Clint turned the knobs on the shower and stuck his hand in, waiting for the water to heat up. “Where is Darcy right now?”

“Ms. Lewis and Ms. Maximoff are with Ms. Potts in the Stark Industries offices,” Jarvis replied over the spray of the shower. “Ms. Lewis has been coordinating the transfer of Dr. Foster’s research from the Tower up to the new base of operations.”

“She give you an ETA on when she was going to be home?” Clint ducked his head under the water, scrubbing away the afternoon in the car, before reaching for the weird oatmeal shampoo that Darcy had gotten him to start using. She said it had no para-something in it, and that it was better for his hair. It didn’t get sudsy, and that bugged him. But Darcy had started petting his head at night as she was falling asleep, and the feeling of her nails against his scalp as he was falling asleep was absolutely worth using some hippy shampoo. Plus, it smelled really good.

“Ms. Lewis did not give an indication as to when she would be home, but she did set a reminder to pull up her enchilada recipe, so it can be assumed that she will be home by six, as it takes an hour to bake, and dinner is at seven,” the AI butler explained.

“You can forget the enchilada recipe,” he ducked his head back under the spray, washing the shampoo from his hair. “We have reservations at Antonio’s at seven.”

“Shall I inform Ms. Lewis of your plans?”

“Naw,” Clint turned in the shower and let the water beat at his face and chest. “It’s a surprise.”

“Very good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave a little love in the comments below. They make my world go round.


	30. Ready Set

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is a lot shorter than usual, but it was either that, or waiting until this weekend to finish it. Also, you'll see when you get to the end why I stopped it here, and didn't go on. Let's just say, it would be a lot longer, like a lot longer, if I had gone on.
> 
> Anyhow, this chapter has not yet been beta'd. My wonderful Kacie has been super busy. I love you Kacie, keep doing what you're doing!! Any and all mistakes are mine, and will be corrected at some point. Feel free, as always, to point them out to me.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 30: Ready Set

Nat snagged Darcy as soon as they got back to the base, pulling her into a super secret girl-time meeting, or something. Clint was just glad that he didn’t need to find a way to ditch her on the way to picking Hannah up from her afternoon with Uncle Tony, who was busy trying to teach the nearly five year old girl all about robotics.

Hannah sat on a workbench surrounded by bits and bobs of machinery, while Tony built her a little robot freehand.

“Daddy!” she beamed at him as he walked through the door, nearly bouncing off the bench in excitement. “Uncle Tony is building me a special friend, like Dum-E! Isn’t that great?”

“Yeah, nibblet,” Clint scratched the back of his neck, trying to think of a way to tell his daughter that Dum-E 2.0 was not going to be allowed in the house. For reasons. “Why don’t you let Tony finish up, and you and I go get a glass of milk and some cookies. I think mommy and Wanda were going to bake some this afternoon?”

“Chocolate chip snicker-doodle,” Hannah nodded and held out her arms for her father to lift her off the bench and onto the ground. “Because they’re too good to be separate.”

“Say bye to Uncle Tony,” he took his daughter's hand, her little fingers curling around his.

“Bye Uncle Tony,” she waved at the inventor, who smiled at her under his lashes, not stopping the work he was doing. “Don’t tell Auntie Jane, but your lab is the most fun.”

“My lips are sealed, munchkin,” Tony winked and went back to his work.

“So,” Hannah looked up at her father and raised her arms to be picked up. “What’s on your mind, Daddy?”

“You spend to much time with Sam,” he hefted her up into his arms, hitching her high on his hip as they swung out of the building, headed towards home. “Just thought we should have a little father daughter talk, is all.”

“Oh, really?” she smirked. “I bet I know what you want to talk about.”

“And spending way too much time with Aunt Nat.”

*****

Nat pulled Darcy down the hallway towards the residential area of the Avenger’s facility. The assassins long legs making Darcy nearly jog to keep up. She waved at Steve and Sam desperately as she was pulled past, but they both just gave her bright sunny smiles and waved back. Boys were so stupid sometimes.

“You gonna tell me where we’re going?” she huffed as Nat paused in front of a door. “You stool my boyfriend all day, and now you’ve kidnapped me, too. What gives?”

“We’re here,” the Black Widow shrugged and knocked on the door softly. “We only have about an hour and a half, you have reservations at seven, and I won't let you be late.”

“Reservations?” Darcy asked as the door opened, revealing the always perfectly impeccably dressed Pepper Potts. “What’s going on?”

“You and Clint haven’t had a real date since before Ultron,” Pepper stepped aside and led them into the small apartment that she and Tony were sharing. It wasn’t any bigger than all of the other little one bedrooms that the rest of the Avengers where using, but Pepper was in and out running Stark Industries, so it wasn’t as much of a crush. “We just thought it would be nice if you and Clint had a nice night out. When you get home, Hannah is going to come stay with Tony and I, and you two will have the house to yourself.”

“That’s very nice of you,” Darcy looked between the two women suspiciously. “What about the Twins?”

“There is plenty of food in that fridge of yours,” Natasha maneuvered her around to sit at the vanity in the bedroom, pulling her hair carefully out of it ponytail holder. “They won't starve.”

“Okay?”

“You’re being pampered,” Pepper leaned against the vanity, fingering through her impressive array of cosmetics, pulling some out and laying them down on the table as she went through. “I’m going to get the shower warmed up,” she look over at Nat. “What do you think, lavender and vanilla or apricot honey?”

“Lavender,” Natasha nodded inspecting Darcy’s nails. “Clint always says she smells like lavender.”

“I do not,” Darcy pulled her hand away from the assassin and narrowed her eyes. “You guys are being weird.”

“Mladshaya sestra,” Nat tutted cupping the side of Darcy’s face, coking her head to the side and giving her friend a soft, rare smile. “Let us take care of you. You take such good care of all of us.”

“Fine,” she sighed and let her shoulders sag. “But I’m going to figure this out. Don’t think you’re fooling me.”

“The thought never crossed my mind,” the widow produced a purple silk bathrobe from nowhere, and handed it to Darcy. “No go shower, we don’t have a lot of time, and that hair is going to take a while to get dry.”

“You are not wrong.”

*****

Clint pulled down couple of glasses out of the cabinet and placed them on the kitchen island. “So,” he leaned forward on his elbows and looked at his little girl, who sat perched on top of a high top kitchen stoop. “What do you think? Chocolate or regular milk?”

“Do we have strawberry?” she leaned with her chin on one of her little hands. “Cause, you know, I like strawberry best.”

“I will look,” he nodded, knowing full well that she was playing him, but he was willing to let her a little. He pulled open the fridge, grabbing the milk and searching to door for the red bottle of Nestle Strawberry syrup. It was hidden behind Pietro’s weird yogurt milk stuff. “Milk, strawberry syrup,” he put them down on the counter and turned back to the cookie jar, which for Stark reasons was shaped like Hulk. Maybe it was partially because Darcy was Darcy. “And chocolate chip snicker-doodle cookies.” He set the jar down on the counter within easy reach of his four year old.

“Okay, Daddy,” Hannah pulled the cookies closer and with two hands, carefully took off the top of Hulk and placed it on the counter. “Extra syrup please,” she supervised as Clint squirted the red sugary substance into her glass, giving him the eye when he tried to stop. “Nope, not done yet.”

“Do you want some milk with this, or would you prefer if I just handed you the bottle?” he sassed, capping the bottle and putting it aside. “You mother will kill me if you’re climbing the drapes later.”

“You’re stalling, daddy,” she took the glass from her father and stirred the syrup into her milk, eyeing him.

“Yeah,” Clint rubbed the back of his neck and sat down on the stool next to her, looking his little girl in the eye and sighing. “So, you know I love your mommy a whole lot, right?”

“Yes, you give her special kisses, and make her smile all the time,” Hannah shrugged and tipped her head to the side, pulling a cookie from the jar and dunking it in her milk.

“And that I love having all of us living together,” he continued.

“It’s even better with Wanda and Piet living with us too,” she nodded, a little smile growing across her face. “It’s like we’re a real family, like Tommy’s only better.”

“Exactly,” Clint agreed, even Pietro was growing on him, the longer the teen lived with them. Though if he could get the speedy little bastard to stop stealing his toast right out of the toaster in the morning, or swiping the remote, he would be a lot happier. “So, Aunt Nat and I went into New York today, and got something for your mommy, and I wanted to talk to you about it before I gave it to her.”

“I wanna see,” Hannah made grabby hands at him, so reminiscent of her mother, he couldn’t help but laugh. “I gotta make sure it’s pretty enough for mommy.”

“You don’t even know what I got her,” he laughed out loud when his daughter raised one eyebrow and looked at him. “I could have gotten her a puppy.”

“You didn’t get mommy a puppy,” she said. “We have a Lucky, we don’t need a puppy.”

“Right,” Clint nodded.

“Let me see,” Hannah repeated and held out her hand. “Come on daddy, lets see it.”

Clint pulled the small black velvet box out of his jacket pocket and deposited it into his little girl’s waiting hand. “Aunt Nat helped me pick it out, what do you think?”

She carefully opened the clam-shell box with two hands and tipped it back, letting the light hit the center diamond, surrounded by a halo of little diamonds, an amethyst on each side, both surrounded by their own little halos. The stones sparkles brilliantly in the halogen pendant lights of the kitchen. Hannah’s little mouth dropped open as she took in the ring nestled in the box. “Are you going to put on your fancy clothes and get down on the ground, too?”

“We have reservations tonight at Antonio’s at seven,” he nodded. “What do you think? Do you want to be a Barton?”

“Its perfect,” she beamed up at her father, a dreamy look in her eyes. “Mommy’s going to be so happy.”

“I hope so,” Clint brushed some crumbs off her face and smiled. “Now finish up, we only have an hour before we have to go, and I still need to get my suit from Aunt Nat’s room.”

“Do I get to come, too?”

“Of course, little one,” he rinsed his milk glass in the sink, and put it in the dishwasher, like Darcy had coached him. “If we’re going to become a family, you have a right to be there when it happens.”

“I love you, daddy.”

“I love you too nibblet,” Clint kissed the top of her head. “Now, scoot. Nat left a dress for you in your closet. Go change. Call me if you need help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I promise a proposal in the next chapter. And then we get to gear up for Civil War. I promise it'll be different from the movie. Like a lot different.
> 
> Love!


	31. Forever and Always

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late, I've been working on this since Tuesday, but life has a way of kicking you in the teeth when you have plans, and it has been kicking me a lot lately. I'm going to go ahead and jinx myself and say, that we're past that. I wont bore you with my domestic first world problems. Those of you who read my other stories know about my shoulder injury, which is healing nicely, and I'm finally off the heavy duty drugs. Yay! Lets just leave it at, there have been several more things that have happened since then, in the none physical injury department, that have sucked, and my family and I are working through them, and hopefully we'll be stronger on the other end. Real life sucks.
> 
> Anyhow! Here is the chapter you have all been waiting for. We have just a few more chapters and we will segway into my new and improved version of Civil War.
> 
> Enjoy!

Handle With Care

Chapter 31: Forever and Always

Clint held the door open to the restaurant for his girls, one hand in his pocket, slowly petting the velvet jewelry case with one finger. Darcy held Hannah’s hand and talked to the hostess, before throwing a smile over her shoulder at him. He smiled back and let the door close behind himself, taking a long deep breath. There was a tightness in his throat that he couldn’t shake, but in the best way. He ran his hands threw his hair, dismissing that little voice in the back of his head that sounded entirely too much like Nat, telling him not to mess up his hair.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he wrapped his arms around Darcy’s waist and whispered the complement into her hair, taking in the lavender and vanilla scent of her, feeling it deep in his chest. “Have I told you that yet?”

“Twice,” Darcy turned her face up to him and kissed at his chin. “But I could stand to hear it again.”

“You look beautiful,” Clint said against her lips. “Both my girls do,” he looked down at Hannah, who had tucked herself up against Darcy’s hip, a wide grin on the little girls face.

“I love my pretty purple dress,” their daughter swished the full skirt back and forth. “It’s twirly.”

Darcy knelt down next to her daughter and straightened the little pearl necklace around her neck. “You look very pretty, niblet.”

“Can we follow the nice lady now?” Hannah tucked a curl behind her mother’s ear and looked up at Clint. “I’m real hungry.”

“Sure,” he held out his hand to his daughter and smiled sheepishly at the hostess, who had been waiting patiently. “Sorry.”

“No worries,” the young woman said. “Special occasion?” she asked quietly to Clint.

“Um,” he looked at Darcy out of the corner of his eye. She was busy turning the sound off on her phone, and trying to tuck the Stark device back into the miniscule purse that Pepper had made her take. He stealthy tipped the ring box out of the pocket closest to the hostess. “Kinda.”

“I see,” she nodded and gave him a little smile. “I’ll let your waiter know, he’ll bring out a bottle of champagne, on us, of course, after the big moment to celebrate.”

“That would be very nice,” he tucked the box back down into his pocket and smiled. “I feel like I’m going to explode.”

“How long have you two been together?”

“Oh,” Clint tipped his head to the side and counted back the months. “Officially? Since September, so like nine months? Wow, is that all?”

“Then the little girl is?”

“A really long story, but she’s ours,” Clint looked down at his daughter, who smiled up at him and squeezed his hand.

“Ah,” the hostess said nothing else as she placed the menus down on the table. “Your waiter will be around shortly to take your orders.”

“Thanks,” Darcy slipped into her seat next to Hannah, and picked up the menu, and unfolding the little kids menu and dumping the crayons that came with it out on the tablecloth. “Hannah, do you want a cheeseburger, or spaghetti?”

*****

Clint waited until Darcy and Hannah disappeared entirely into the bathroom before he pulled the box out of his pocket and gestured the waiter over to him.

“Okay, so I don’t know really how this works,” he wiggled the box in his hands. “My best friend kinda did all the planning, but she left me hanging with the actual popping the question part, and my girlfriend and our little girl are going to be back in like a minute.”

“Well,” the waiter leaned against the pillar right next to the table and folded his arms across his chest, looking Clint up and down, shrugging. “Most guys wait for desert, and pop the question right after it comes. Then I will bring a bottle of champagne. Or you can give it to me, and I’ll bring it on top of her desert, or in a glass of champagne.”

“Darcy would eat it, without noticing,” Clint huffed out a little laugh. “That or bite into the ring and break a tooth.”

“Then I’d do the one knee thing,” he pushed himself up off the pillar. “The entire place will be watching, so I’ll know when to bring over the champagne,” the young man patted Clint on the shoulder and walked away shaking his head.

“Right,” Clint tucked the box back into his pocket. “Deep breaths. Nat said it was a sure thing. In through the nose, out through the mouth.”

Darcy helped Hannah back into her chair and looked across the table at her boyfriend. “You okay, Hawk?” she tipped her head to the side just a bit, taking in the serious look on his face. “You’ve been all,” she waved her hands about a bit. “Tense throughout dinner. Something happen today? You guys aren’t going out again or something? Cause, you know the niblet and I will be holding down the homestead and waiting for you all to get back.”

“No,” he shook his head and took a deep long breath before blowing it out. “Just a lot on my mind. You ready for desert?”

“Seriously?” she laughed and shook her head and looked at the to-go box half filled with her linguini with clam sauce, and the second box with two giant meatballs left over from Hannah’s dinner. “After a bowl the size of a small infant of pasta you want me to eat sugar?”

“The chocolate cake looks so good,” he tipped his head to the table next to him, where the couple was sharing a large piece of decadents. He wrung his hands under the table, his knee bouncing uncontrollably.

“What do you think, Hannah bear?” Darcy cocked an eyebrow at their daughter, who looked like she was vibrating with excitement.

The little girl looked back and forth between her parents. “Yes,” the little girl nodded her head. “I want cake.”

“Alright then,” Darcy chuckled, shaking her head. “But just one,” she raised a brow at Clint. “We can all share,” she leaned back in her chair and patted her stomach. “Cause, I’m so stuffed I think you might have to carry me home.”

“Deal,” he reached across the table and took her hand in his, running his fingers over the center of her palm. He looked over at their waiter, who was just there all of a sudden. “One piece of chocolate cake, three forks?”

“Of course,” the kids winked at him and disappeared again.

Clint’s unoccupied hand dropped back into his pocket, fingering the clamshell box. “Uncle Tony said that he and Aunt Pepper were going to let me stay up and watch movies in the big living room,” Hannah said conversationally, filling the sudden void in conversation. “Mommy, he’s making me my own Dumm-E.”

“Yeah, your robot will have to live in Uncle Tony’s lab, niblet,” her mom rolled her eyes. “Did I ever tell you about the robot that Tony sent us in London when he was trying to woo Jane? It was supposed to help with household stuff, you know, dusting, vacuuming and getting Hannah’s bottles ready.” Darcy linked her fingers with Clint’s, if only to stop the delicate tickling sensation he was creating on her palm with his light touches. “Well, it did the vacuuming just fine, and with the exceptions of a few picture frames that met their tragic end, the dusting wasn’t so bad. But the bottles,” she just shook her head. “Nope. It broke three, mixed two with a concoction of the powder mix and water that was closer to the consistency of paste than formula, but the last straw was the one that it melted, trying to heat it up.”

“Mommy made it into a coat rack,” Hannah giggled behind her fingers.

“It didn’t make the move across the pond,” Darcy concluded.

“And yet, our daughter spends nearly every afternoon in the workshop with Tony,” Clint raised a brow.

“Eh,” Darcy just shrugged, eyes lighting up as she spotted the waiter coming with the cake. “As long as the robots stay in the workshop and don’t come home,” she smiled at the waiter as he set the cake between her and Hannah. “We made a rule about always buying presents after that. And by bought, I mean he has to buy the present, not the components.”

“So,” he took the forks, with a little secret smile to Hannah. “I don’t have a good segway here, so I’m just going to jump right into it,” Hannah was wiggling in her seat, holding her little hands over her mouth. Clint grinned back at her and slowly slid out of his seat. “Darcy,” he pulled his hand out of his pocket, hands gripped around the jewelry box tightly. “You have given me so much this year,” Darcy’s hands flew up to her own mouth, a gasp escaping through her lips before she clamped her hands tight. 

“No, no no, you are not proposing to me right now,” she gasped out from behind her fingers, looking around at all of the people in the restaurant suddenly watching them. Dead silence surrounded them.

Clint pulled her hands from her face and kissed her fingers. “Finding you again, meeting Hannah,” he continued like she hadn’t said anything, running his thumb under one of her wide eyes, brushing away the tear that had slipped out. “Spending time with the both of you. You have brought me so much happiness, and so many joys,” he sank down onto one knee and held up the box, carefully pulled it open. “If you could give me one more thing,” he looked up into her eyes, watching them glisten with tears as she nodded her head frantically. “And agree to be my wife.”

Darcy burst from her chair, nearly knocking Clint to the floor as she took his face in her hands and kissed him. “Yes, please,” she nodded, her forehead against his. 

“See, daddy,” Hannah leaned over the table to look at her parents. Darcy peppered kisses against this mouth. “I told you mommy would say yes.”

Clint picked up the clamshell box from where he had dropped it. He pulled the ring from its place and took Darcy’s hand. He looked up at her and with a slight nod from her, slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly, but he knew it would. Fucking Natasha and her super spy powers would have made sure of it. “Perfect,” he threaded their fingers together and kissed their joined hands. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she held up their hands to the light and tipped them back and forth, looking at way the ring glittered.

“Your champagne, sir?” the waiter put a bucket down on the table, with two glasses. “I have a little glass of sparkling apple cider for your daughter as well.”

“Oh, right,” Clint pulled them up off the floor and held Darcy’s chair out for her. 

“To us,” Darcy clinked her glass against Hannah’s and then Clint’s.

“To family,” he said with a smile. “To you being Mrs. Hawk for real.”

“Does that mean I get to be Hannah Barton for real now?” Hannah took a little sip of her cider and made a face. “To spiky.” She wrinkled her nose as her parents laughed and drank their own drinks.

“Yes,” Darcy kissed her daughter on the top of her head. “To being Bartons,” she tipped her head back and finished off the last of her glass. “Take me home, Mr. Hawk.”

“As you wish,” Clint smiled over at his girls, watching as Hannah took her mother’s hand and watched the diamonds sparkle in the light. He leaned over the table and kissed his fiancee, while their daughter squealed.

*****

They dropped Hannah off with Tony and Pepper, who both beamed at them. Pepper fawned over the ring for ten seconds before composing herself and telling Darcy they had to have lunch soon. Darcy just laughed and shook her head.

Darcy linked her hand with her fiance's, and walked down the short path to their house. “So, how much of this did Natasha plan?”

Clint rubbed the back of his neck before shrugging. “I told her I was thinking about getting a ring,” he pulled Darcy in against his chest as he fished in his pocket for his keys. “Next thing I know, she wrestling me into that death trap of a car, explaining how she knows a guy.”

“Ha!” Darcy pushed the door open and picked up an envelope that sat in the little bowl she had placed by the door for dumping keys. “What’s this?”

“Don’t know,” he kissed against the side of her head as she slipped her finger under the seal. It said ‘Congratulations’ on the front in Pepper’s perfectly loopy cursive.

“They got us an engagement trip,” she held up the letter. “A trip for three for ten days to Bucharest,” she turned the letter back around, reading. “Why Romania?”

“Um,” Clint leaned back against the door. “Tony asks crazy questions when were bored, flying to and from different places tend to get tedious, and he likes to relieve it by playing Truth or Dare, light on the Dare.”

“And this lead to an engagement trip to Romania?”

“It's one of those places I've never been,” he shrugged. “Steve asked what I thought was the most romantic place I could think of, during one of those games. I hate Paris, I’ve been there one too many times, and never for leisure. Though I have been to the Louvre, it’s nice.”

“Not a French fan, anyhow,” Darcy shrugged. “I’m Jewish.”

“Right,” Clint steared them both out of the entry hall and towards the stairs. “So, the first city I could come up with that sounded like a nice place to take someone I loved was Bucharest.”

“And Tony, being Tony, remembered, and presto.”

“I guess,” he took the envelope from her and looked through it as they ascended the steps. “He’s got us booked at the Epoque Hotel for ten days. No plane tickets.”

“Sounds fancy,” she took the paper out of his hands and dropped it on her dresser. “Knowing Tony it’s crazy extravagant. And I can guarantee that we are taking a Stark Industries Jet.” Darcy pulled him around to look at her. “Now, no more talk of Tony, we don’t leave for another few days, and we just got engaged,” she wiggled her ring in front of his face. “Now, Hawk, take me to bed or lose me forever.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he threaded his fingers through her curls at the base of her skull and brought his lips down to hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a little message in the box below. Even better if you have ever actually been to Romania! Cause I can very safely say that I have not. The Epoque Hotel is a real place. I found it via the Google Box. So, if you know sights and places in Romania that they should see, please let me know! You all know I read my reviews very carefully.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave your comments in the box below. No chocolate for the bunnies. Thank you!


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